


Playing the Field

by mayzie



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:07:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 37,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26625649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayzie/pseuds/mayzie
Summary: "That's Marlene McKinnon- they got her whole family." Marauder Era. James, Sirius, and Marlene know their way around the Quidditch pitch. Lily and Remus know their way around the library. They're all decent in combat, as long as it's in the comfort of a classroom, but how will the up-and-coming Order of Phoenix deal with love and the impending war waiting just outside the castle?
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Marlene McKinnon, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	1. August 1976

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally posted on Fanfiction.net. Narration will follow several characters.

"Da! We're gonna miss the portkey, hurry!" Marlene McKinnon yelled as her, her brother, Rodger, and their cousin, Alice, ran up the hill just on the edge of her village. The sun was starting to come up far in the east, slowly streaking over the Cliffs of Moher. She bent over, pressing her hands on her knees, to catch her breath. They had run nearly the whole way from their cottage, which wasn't very far, but it was at the bottom of the hill.

"Oi! Maybe if ye were carrying as much as me!" Her father grunted as he nearly climbed up the rest of the way on his hands and knees. Rodger and Marlene ran to his aid and took the tent and two of their many bags from him. Rodger threw the strap of the tent bag over his shoulder and Marlene did the same with a duffle as she handed the other bag to Alice.

"Mr. McKinnon!" called a voice from the top of the hill. They all looked up to see a silhouetted figure. Marlene squinted into the sunlight to see her brother's best mate, Dave, grinning and waving at them holding a large rusty can.

"That must be it!" said Mr. McKinnon rubbing his hands together excitedly. The McKinnon's closed the distance between them and Dave, and each greeted him differently.

"How ya doin', son?" said Mr. McKinnon with a firm handshake.

"Just grand! Excited for these VIP tickets," Dave responded with a big goofy grin.

"What's on, man!" Rodger said pulling Dave into a quick hug.

"Alice! Always a pleasure!" Dave said with another quick hug.

Then Dave turned to Marlene, who was waiting patiently, and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and lifted her up.

"Davie Davie!" Marlene squealed happily as she was returned to the ground. Dave ruffled her hair, which made her scrunch up her face and pat her French braids back down into place. Davie Davie was the nickname Dave had earned when Marlene was ten and first learned his full name was David Davies; it was the first time he had ever stayed with the McKinnon's after his and Rodger's first year at Hogwarts. If Dave was going to still ruffle her hair and treat her like Rodger's kid sister, then she was going to keep calling him by that stupid nickname.

"Hey, heard you got those metal things off your teeth, lemme see," Dave said happily. He was always happy; nothing could get him down, not even losing the House Cup. Marlene grinned to show off her newly straightened teeth. When the magic remedy didn't work on what Rodger called her "snaggle tooth" Mr. and Mrs. McKinnon resorted to the awful, and somewhat painful, muggle method of braces. She wasn't the only kid at Hogwarts to sport braces, thank Merlin, but it certainly didn't help her image. She was "Rodger McKinnon's unfortunate looking little sister," for her first five years of Hogwarts.

"That's grand," Dave said, ruffling her hair again. She laughed, but again fretted over her hair. It had taken Marlene and Alice a whole bottle of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion to tame her usually frizzy mangled mess of what some might vaguely consider curls.

"It's about time kids," said Mr. McKinnon, checking his watch, "Everyone, grab the can!" They all obeyed just in time for the can to begin to glow before it whisked them all away. After the dizzying trip was over and they all landed in an unfamiliar field, Mr. McKinnon checked in with a wizard in a kilt. The can was tossed into a pile of trash and "County Clare, Ireland" was checked off the list.

"Please move along, another portkey is arriving in one minute," grumbled the wizard in the kilt.

Rodger, Dave, Marlene, and Alice all chatted about last year and this upcoming year and how Gryffindor was going to beat Ravenclaw in the Quidditch Cup now that Rodger and Dave were Captain and Co-captain respectively. Because she was the only Ravenclaw in the group, Marlene kept her arguments purely playful.

"Do you ever wish you were in the same house as us?" Dave asked suddenly.

"Nah," said Marlene jokingly, "We'd probably kill each other." Marlene and Alice had had quite a hard time spending all of their time together before Alice and Rodger had gone off to Hogwarts the year before Marlene because both girls were rather competitive and strong-willed. They were also rather different; Alice was reserved and thoughtful, whereas Marlene was quick-witted and impulsive. It had been an initial surprise to the girls when Alice, who'd rather stay in with a book, was placed in Gryffindor while Marlene, who was often outside dive-bombing on her dad's old brooms, was sorted into Ravenclaw. It was less of a surprise to Marlene's parents who often called her "precocious," while her brother just called her "pretentious." Marlene certainly would've liked being in the same house as Rodger, but as the years went on and the shadow he cast grew bigger, she was glad to have a little separation and distinction from him.

Despite her adeptness at learning and strong observational skills, which made her think she was well-suited for Ravenclaw, Marlene's physical nature often dominated others' perception of her. As a result, she never felt quite at home amongst the Ravenclaws. In fact, she didn't care much for a structured school environment and excelled on tests without much time spent studying, which made her a bit of an outcast from her housemates. She often thought about how lucky she was to have Rodger and his friends, as well as Alice, who she spent most of her free time with. Dave would refer to Marlene as an "honorary Gryffindor" as long as it wasn't Quidditch season. Marlene would've contended that she did in fact wish she had just been sorted into Gryffindor with the rest of them if her father hadn't been a Ravenclaw himself, he had even been Quidditch captain his seventh year, beating his own brother and sister in Gryffindor for the House Cup. Marlene hoped this last year she had with Rodger and Alice before they finished Hogwarts would be the year to follow in her dad's footsteps. They continued discussing the merits of the different houses they've come to discover over their six and seven years at Hogwarts when they realized that Mr. McKinnon had stopped to talk to two men.

"Merlin! Do you know who that is?" Marlene whispered tugging on Alice's sleeve excitedly.

"That's Ludo Bagman from the Wimbourne Wasps!" Dave gasped. Not exactly one of their favorite teams, but it was exciting nonetheless. Ludo Bagman was one of the best beaters in the league, hands down, also, certainly the best looking. Even Alice, who despite being raised around Quidditch never showed much interest for the sport, had pinned an issue of Witch Weekly to her bedroom wall when Ludo graced the cover.

Mr. McKinnon extended his hand to both men. "Travers," he said tightly as he shook the hand of a tall man in black wizards' robes, "You know we need to dress like muggles at these events."

"Please," Travers said slickly, "I'm not wearing those wretched muggle clothes. Besides with all the other things that happen in the camp grounds I'm hardly concerned." Mr. McKinnon didn't respond, but instead turned to Ludo and introduced himself.

"Mr. Bagman, pleasure to meet you!" said Mr. McKinnon with a hearty handshake.

"Pleasure to meet me?" Ludo chuckled, "I should be saying that to you, the 'Marvelous' Mike McKinnon!" Travers rolled his eyes at this, but Ludo didn't notice and continued, "The Kestrels haven't seen a season worth mentioning since you retired!" Mr. McKinnon smiled, but went to argue because whether or not he had played for them, the Kenmare Kestrels were his favorite team, however Rodger took this moment to loudly clear his throat from behind Mr. McKinnon.

"Aye! Where are my manners? Travers, Bagman, these are my kids, Rodger and Marlene, my niece, Alice, and Rodger's friend, David."

"No need to introduce me!" Bagman said heartily shaking each of the kids' hands. "And I know all about the McKinnon kids! They'll be recruiting you this year, eh lad?" he said to Rodger who smiled wider than you could imagine.

"Yes, sir! We've already had a few teams come to the house to discuss options," Rodger beamed.

"Bet the Cannons were the first ones!" Bagman said with a chuckle as Rodger nodded. "They think if they're the first ones with their foot in the door they'll getcha, but you're too good a player for them."

"Thank you! That means a lot, coming from you." Marlene looked at her brother with pride to see that he looked like Christmas had come early. She wondered if Bagman had anything to say about her.

"And you, little miss Marlene!" Dave smirked beside Marlene as she received Bagman's hearty handshake, expecting praise for her latest racing season, though she knew he was obviously far more interested in Quidditch. "You have taken the racing world by storm, haven't you? Fastest and youngest girl in the amateur league!"

"Oh. . . well," Marlene said, blushing.

"No, no, don't be modest, there are stats to prove it! You should just drop out of school now and join the professional league!" Bagman continued, clapping Marlene on the back.

"See, that's what I've been saying!" Marlene said laughing, but her father looked displeased.

"She is not dropping out of school," he said seriously. "Her mother would never allow it," he finished with a laugh. "You certainly know a lot about the up and coming athletes, Ludo."

"Look out," said Travers, blithely jumping back into the conversation, "He's after your job."

Mr. McKinnon's eyebrow lifted curiously, but lightheartedly, and Bagman hastily tried to cover his tracks.

"After you retire of course! I still have plenty of Quidditch years left in me. Don't want to step on anyone's toes," Ludo said hastily. He cast a quick glare at Travers and pushed his yellow hair off his forehead and mumbled something about seeing someone about a bet.

The group headed off to the campgrounds as Mr. McKinnon grumbled about Bagman. "Says he wants to be Head of the DMGS and he's placing bets? Do you know what kind of message that sends?"

"Well good thing you're not planning on retiring anytime soon," Marlene said patting his back just as they came upon an empty plot of land with a sign reading: "Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports: McKinnon and Guests." This was Marlene's second time at the Quidditch World Cup, the last one had been right after her second year at Hogwarts. The time before that her mother felt she was too young to go to such a big event, which was a shame because that was the year her cousin, Aela, was on the winning team. This year, much like the match eight years ago, was between the Irish and American National Teams. Naturally, the McKinnon's were supporting one of Mike's former teams, Ireland, but Aela, who was joining them, would be supporting her former team, the American Thunderbirds. Despite the slight rivalry, Marlene and Alice were both very excited to see Aela because she was the only other female cousin on the McKinnon side.

"Alright boys! Let's set up the tent," Mr. McKinnon called to Rodger and Dave who groaned at the same time.

"We can help," Marlene responded eagerly.

"No you can't," said Mr. McKinnon, "No magic 'til you're seventeen."

"Why do I even bother?" grumbled Marlene. Her and Alice took this opportunity to walk around the campsite, the match wouldn't start until the next morning so they had the entire day ahead of them. They walked past many old Ministry workers, some with their families, some chatting with co-workers. Marlene and Alice both giggled at their attempts at dressing like muggles. Ever since the two witches started going to the muggle cinema together to watch the "movies," with their dads, they had gotten much better at dressing like muggles. Frankly, they found the style of the day very freeing and hip. Alice tugged on Marlene's long braids, "They seem to be dry, you can probably undo them." Marlene did as Alice instructed and shook her hair loose. Her usually frazzled hair fell in smooth bouncy waves down to the middle of her back.

"How do I look?" Marlene asked, combing her fingers through her hair.

"Stellar!" Alice said with a grin. As much as their personalities always clashed, Marlene and Alice's style differences were even more polarizing. Marlene wore a gauzy tunic and knee-high suede moccasins embroidered with thunderbirds, which Aela had gotten her from on an Indian reservation. Her long, dark brown hair matched perfectly with the hippie style she emulated from all the surfer flicks she watched with Alice. Alice, who had always preferred muggle spy films, was far more into the mod style. Her dark hair was cropped short like the muggle model, Twiggy, framing her round face, and she was wearing a vibrant, straight cut, dress with a large white collar and no sleeves. Alice also wore knee-high boots, but hers were white and shiny and squeaked when they rubbed together. The two girls wandered out of the VIP campsites into the souvenir venders and food carts. Foods from all over the world swirled together to make a salty-sweet smell that wafted into the campsites, luring in customers. The smell of something familiar caught Marlene's attention.

"Hotdogs!" she jogged over to the cart, not caring much if Alice had followed her. The front of the cart was filled with moving photographs of the American players, and nearly a dozen miniature American flags stuck out of a tin cup that read: "American Flags: 2 Sickles."

"Well, hello ladies, how may I help you?" asked the young man working the cart in a crisp American accent. He smiled broadly at Marlene and Alice, but his face dropped when Marlene made her order. "Thought you girls were American," he said with a sigh. "I don't think any of them have arrived yet, they usually do the closest portkeys first," he continued as he squeezed mustard onto the two hotdogs. "Enjoy the match ladies, and I hope you won't be offended that I don't wish your team wins." He gave the girls a light laugh then went back to his business as they walked along through the venders. There were plenty of gaudy souvenirs for both teams, as well as some old team jerseys sold dirt cheap.

"Think we should get Aela's old jersey?" Alice said holding the jersey up in front of her. "It's only a galleon!"

"Ugh, even I wouldn't pay that much for it!" said an American from behind Marlene. Alice saw her before Marlene even got a chance to turn around.

"Aela!" Marlene and Alice wrapped their arms around their favorite cousin who was dressed in high-waisted bellbottoms and a Boston Black Cats cotton shirt. Dave and Rodger were with her and watched as the girls caught up with each other, astounded at how they could all talk over each other and still understand one another and respond, even though there were three different conversations going on.

"Jeez look at you two! You're gorgeous young ladies, not those little punks I saw at the last World Cup!"

"How are the Black Cats? I heard everyone got the new Clean Sweeps, looking into their racing model m'self."

"How's Aunt Maureen and Uncle John? Have you heard the new Morganas' Album? It's brilliant!"

When the chatter died down a bit Rodger cut into the conversations, "Aela got s'mores stuff and Dad made a fire. Wanna head back to camp?" The McKinnon's chatted all the way back to the tent, with Dave silently basking in Aela's glow. Dave wouldn't admit it, but Marlene was pretty certain he had a giant crush on their cousin for years. Aela was quite popular in the States and her antics occasionally made it to Witch Weekly and other European publications. She was tall like all the McKinnon's, but statuesque and lithe in a way that was very different from Marlene, who was still in an awkward growing phase, or Alice, who wasn't very physically fit and thus a little softer in form. Aela had a very strong, but pretty face, and all three girls had bright blue eyes surround by thick dark lashes, a common trait in the McKinnon family. There were no shortage of rumors about any of their cousins and who they were dating because the second generation of McKinnon's were both skilled and attractive, making them quite popular with young witches and wizards. Marlene couldn't imagine anyone being particularly interested in what she got up to, but she knew from her cousins the fame was unavoidable. Alice, on the other hand, couldn't be less interested in fame and was perfectly content to not share their notorious last name or be part of the sporting world.

Marlene, Rodger, and Dave prodded Aela for Quidditch stories from when she played on the national team, in between frequent stops by American fans asking Aela to sign paraphernalia or to take pictures with them. They returned to the campsite quite a bit of time later to see it was entirely filled with shabby little tents and fires and clothes lines. Some people went a little overboard and put picket fences around their plots and even released a few garden gnomes. Sometimes the World Cup went on for days, weeks, or even months; it wasn't unreasonable to make yourself comfortable considering you might be there for a while. The whole area was split about 50/50 between American dignitaries and members of the Ministry, but there were a few names that Marlene didn't recognize.

"Dad, who are all these people? I thought this was the VIP section." She asked as she noticed yet another sign that displayed a name, but no title.

"It is," sighed Mr. McKinnon, "Some people can actually afford to buy these tickets."

"Well that would explain what Potter's doing here," said Rodger, just as two dark-haired boys emerged, laughing, from the tent next to theirs.

"Oi! Potter! Black!" Dave called to the boys outside the adjacent tent that was deep shade of blue and clearly new.

"Hey!" said Sirius Black while he jabbed James Potter in the ribs. James looked up from what he was doing and grinned and the boys greeted each other noisily. Aela went back to the McKinnon's tent, but Marlene and Alice hung around with Dave and Rodger as they caught up with James and Sirius. James and Sirius were in Marlene's year and Alice and Rodger's house, it would be rude to not, at the very least, say hello. They waited for the boys to stop wrestling or play fighting or whatever it was that they were doing, and Alice gave a hearty, "Hello!" while Marlene gave an awkward wave. Rodger and Dave were much closer with James and Sirius than the girls because they were all on the Gryffindor Quidditch team together. James and Sirius both gave Alice a quick hug and offered their hands to Marlene, seeing as they had never really talked before. There were only so many kids in their year, so they all knew each others' names, but it still seemed odd not to make formal introductions.

"Hey we're making s'mores, do you guys want to join us?" Rodger offered.

"What the hell are s'mores?" Sirius asked, and James looked just as confused.

"Man, you gotta try this stuff!" Dave said excitedly as he remembered the first time he had ever had a s'more at the last World Cup. "You toast a marshmallow over a fire then put it on a piece of chocolate between two graham crackers. It's sooooo good."

"Uh sure, that sounds cool," Sirius said with a searching glance at Marlene, which she didn't understand.

Just as the sun was setting Marlene found herself around a campfire with melted marshmallow stuck to her fingers as her dad told one of his best Quidditch stories. She was between Rodger and Alice facing Sirius and James. The story Mr. McKinnon told was the one that ended his Quidditch career, which was answering one of James's questions. This story had always been Marlene's favorite because it was the one in which her parents met.

The Marvelous Mike McKinnon had taken a bludger to the knee, again. It was his seventh season with the Kenmare Kestrels and they had just brought in a new healer that morning. Mike was nervous when they brought him to the locker room on the stretcher because he trusted the old healer with his life, and he didn't even know the new healer's name. This is when the story gets good, in walks the healer, and she is the most beautiful woman Mike has ever seen. She had eyes the color of a Quidditch pitch, and hair like a freshly polished broom. At this point Marlene and Rodger would laugh at the fact that their father couldn't think of any better way to describe their mother than by comparing her to Quidditch. Her name was Hellen and she was all business. Mike, despite the pain, kept trying to catch her eye. She prodded his knee carefully and started fiddling around with the potions on the cart next to her. After reading what seemed to be every label on every bottle, she brandished her wand and said simply, "This may hurt a little." Before she said the spell she looked up into Mike's face for the first time to give him a reassuring smile, but she was lost in his bright blue eyes and long lashes instead.

"Ended up vanishing all the ligaments in my knee, instead of fixing it," Mike said with a proud grin, tapping the very knee he spoke of. "Took a whole night and a team of healers to fix that problem, but I knew with one look I had found the girl of my dreams. It's a rare thing to find, boys, so once you do, hold onto that," Mr. McKinnon finished happily.

Marlene and Alice exchanged a smile as Aela stood up and stretched.

"I'm off to bed, I'm getting too old for this." Dave watched her stand and retreat into the tent as James looked contemplative, watching the stars, and Sirius watched the light of the campfire dance across Marlene's features.

"I'm going to turn in too," said Mr. McKinnon, "Rodger, make sure that fire's out before you lot head in, and not too late! We have to get up early tomorrow."

"Rod, your dad is _so cool_ ," Sirius said in awe when they were all left alone.

"Yeah, my dad's nice, but he's kind of boring," James offered.

"Don't say that about Mr. Potter, he's a great man!" Sirius said with a smirk. He was messing with James, but what he said rang true. The Potters had taken Sirius in without a question when he showed up on their front door step a little over a month earlier. Mr. Potter had even run out that day to go get a ticket to the World Cup for Sirius when he realized his stay would probably be permanent.

"So how has the summer been for you two? How are Remus and Peter?" Alice asked Sirius and James. Sirius looked to James for help, he didn't really want anyone knowing about his situation just yet, and James was always the alibi maker when they would get into trouble.

"Oh, you know, just messing around, not doing too much. Me and Sirius have spent almost the whole summer together-"

"-Naturally," Sirius cut in.

"And erm Remus we've seen a few times, his Mum's still ill, you know, and Petey's been is Spain this whole summer on holiday. He's having a blast, though, sending us letters and all. Apparently going topless on the beach there is very popular."

"What about you lot?" Sirius asked, looking to Marlene, but Rodger answered.

"Pretty much the same, hanging out with Dave, thinking about which Quidditch team I'll play for."

"I went on holiday to America to visit that Disneyland place. The muggles call it 'the most magical place on Earth' wouldn't they be shocked if they found out about us?" Alice said with a laugh.

"I've just been studying up on magical law all summer, when I'm not hanging out with these eijits," Dave said, pointing a thumb at Marlene and Rodger, "dreadfully boring stuff, that is. The laws, not the McKinnon's."

"What about you Marlene?" Sirius asked, and honestly Marlene was surprised he actually remembered her name.

"Er, just a bit of racing," she responded with a shrug.

"Don't be so modest Mars," Dave said. "She's top ranked in the amateur division, she broke her own world record, and professional racing teams want her to drop out of Hogwarts now and race for the pro league," Dave said proudly.

"No kidding!" James said excitedly.

"Yeah, but I'm not going to do that," Marlene said a little indignantly.

"She thinks she's not ready for pros," Rodger said quietly.

"You had the world record and you broke it! How much more ready can you be?" Sirius asked staring at Marlene in disbelief.

"I haven't got the discipline or time with Hogwarts. And I should probably stay for my N.E.W.T.S. in case the racing thing doesn't pan out. Maybe I'll be ready in a few more years," said Marlene staring into the dying fire. She looked up at the group and made eye contact with Sirius before quickly looking back at the fire. "I'm going to bed, I'm knackered."

Marlene stood and walked to the tent, quickly followed by Alice, who knew how much Marlene hated thinking about her career, especially in the break time between the racing season and school. They stepped into the tent for the first time that night to find the familiar and cozy interior they knew from the last World Cup.

"Well, that was interesting," said Alice from across the tent as she sifted through her duffel bag, looking for pajamas.

"What was?" asked Marlene as she poured milk into two glasses in the tent's kitchenette. She was pretty sure she knew exactly what Alice meant, but she wanted to hear her say it.

"Hanging out with James Potter and Sirius Black. Was it just me or did Sirius keep staring at you?" Alice said just before pulling closed the curtain that blocked the entrance to the bunk room. Marlene stopped, halfway through twisting the cap back on the milk. She thought she had been imagining that.

"I kind of noticed too," she said slowly. The curtain opened again and Alice stepped out in a flowery nightgown.

"Maybe he liiiikes you," Alice teased as she sat and reached for one of the glasses of milk.

"Doubtful," Marlene replied flatly. She never got much attention from boys, having been shaped like one until recently when puberty bowled her over just before her sixteenth birthday. A late bloomer compared to Alice, who had already breezed through several boyfriends since her third year. Yet, Marlene couldn't help but hope Alice was right.


	2. September 1976

Dave set off to find an empty compartment on the train while Rodger and Marlene said their goodbyes to their parents. Most of the other students were doing the same, so it wasn't hard for Dave to find an empty compartment to haul his trunk into. He sat his trunk across from him on the bench seat and propped his legs up on it while thumbing open the book he had been pouring over all summer. Right on the page he had left off, Dave had stuck a Chocolate Frog card of Oswald Beamish, pioneer of Goblin rights, to keep his place. He had only just gotten to the Werewolf Articles in his thick law textbook, not quite three-quarters of the way through every law still in place by the Ministry of Magic. He had skimmed ahead to Squib regulations when he had first gotten the book, and continued returning to that section in hopes that the more laws he read, the better he could understand the root of the problem with these regulations. The better he understood the problem, the easier it would be to sort out a solution.

Dave had a complicated relationship with the magical world and had felt the burden of being ostracized by it most of his life. He attended muggle primary school where he had actually met Rodger the year before they would both end up attending Hogwarts, never previously knowing the other had been magic-bearing, and grew up in a magic-free household. It was a relief to finally have a friend nearby whose house he could escape to when things got too boring at his own. It was also nice to get to experience life in a magical family without having to be shipped out to the countryside to stay with either of his grandparents. His aunts and uncles and cousins on both sides of his family had attended Hogwarts and when he was younger he felt like his extended family was speaking a completely different language whenever he was around them. His parents never came to family gatherings and Dave often had to volley endless slews of questions about how they were fairing "out there," which was how his family referred to the muggle world.

His parents faired fine of course, after years and years of integrating with the muggles, often dealing with their co-workers and peers asking if they had grown up under a rock when they didn't understand something most muggles assumed was common knowledge. By the time David was born his parents had nearly cut all ties with their wizarding relatives. They had gone to public school, then to university, and effectively settled into their muggle lives without looking back until Dave showed his first sign of accidental magic. In a toddler tantrum he had burst all the lightbulbs in their apartment, and promptly the next morning his mother walked into the nearest wizard settlement and sent an owl to her parents asking for help.

Dave didn't like the word 'squib' as it was often spoken with derision. His extended family avoided the word like the plague, talking circles around the fact that Dave's parents, despite both coming from nearly pure magical bloodlines, were without magic themselves. He was never sure if his family avoided talking about his parents' circumstance more for his sake or their own, but prying the god-honest truth out of old Irish people was notoriously difficult. Everything in the past was treated as such and as a result Dave never got much information about how everyone, his parents included, actually felt about and navigated the whole non-magical issue. He knew his parents had met in a support group that helped non-magic people from magical families integrate into muggle society, and he knew that due to several regulations, or lack there of, there wasn't much of a place for non-magic people in the wizarding world. But his family never quite fit in with the muggles either, for the most part his parents, and by extension Dave, kept to themselves.

He liked his parents, of course, they were kind, honest people who clearly loved their son, but there seemed to be an odd undercurrent of displeasure that wove between them after he received his Hogwarts acceptance letter. An ever-growing rift grew between Dave and his parents as he found purchase in the wizarding world that had rejected them.

His mind buzzed as he assessed the Werewolf Articles, marking and underlining bits with his quill when the compartment door slid open. Marlene plopped down on the bench seat beside Dave and he did her the courtesy of closing his book.

"Where's Rodger?"

"Mam started bawling 'cause it's his last year at Hogwarts. I made my escape," Marlene said looking over at Dave. She mirrored him by kicking her slender legs in muggle jeans up onto his trunk as well, and folding her hands in her lap. Dave made note of her Boston Black Cats cotton shirt, like the one Aela had on the day before the Quidditch World Cup. "Find anything interesting in that law book yet?" Marlene asked. Dave appreciated that she showed an interest in his career path. He hoped to study wizarding law after Hogwarts and eventually take a seat on the Wizengamot, championing the rights of people and creatures with little to no representation. Rodger humored him when he needed to mull over information out loud, but Marlene took an active interest in the injustices Dave sought to end.

"There's something here in the Werewolf Articles that might be of use. If I were to word something just the right way to benefit non-magical persons being discriminated against when trying to get jobs in the wizarding world, even jobs that do not require magic to get done, I could kill two birds with one stone and be able to sneak in a bit about job discrimination against werewolves. Wizards feel far less threatened by non-magical members of the magic community than they do by werewolves, but the discrimination they face is often very similar. There's something here for sure," Dave responded, looking from the closed book in his lap to Marlene to see if she was following him. She returned his gaze intently and a smile graced her face.

"Dave, when you run for Minister of Magic, I want to be your celebrity endorsement." He smiled bashfully at her response. Marlene often joked about when the three of them, Rodger included, would be rich and famous after Hogwarts- she and Rodger were already well on their way- and Dave would be the one to keep them out of trouble.

Dave wondered how much Mrs. McKinnon was crying that Rodger hadn't joined them yet, but the Hogwarts Express was bound to disembark soon. Dave didn't mind having a few more moments alone with Marlene, it was rare they had any time between them that wasn't shared with Rodger. As with most boys his age, Dave's interest in having alone time with clever and formidable, yet also pretty girls was increasing, and having that girl's older brother around when some inappropriate thoughts came to mind unbidden was less than ideal.

"I'm gonna go find Alice when Rod shows up," Marlene said, and Dave felt a wave of disappointment, "She has my uniform and things, but I don't want you to be alone, so I'll wait with ye." He accepted what ended up being only a few more moments of companionable silence before Rodger showed up with a pink face and puffy eyes, looking like Mrs. McKinnon hadn't been the only one crying.

* * *

Mr. Evans was grumpy the whole ride to King's Cross, grumbling here and there about the "jackasses" on the road. With an unearthly amount of patience, Lily's father was usually the type to let things like traffic disputes roll off him like water off a duck's back. Lily knew it wasn't really the car who forgot to signal before switching lanes in front of them that was bothering her dad. 'Misplaced anger' is what her mother would call it, misplaced anger at their oldest daughter, Petunia. Lily would hum in agreement to placate her father as she stared out the window at the passing landmarks that reminded Lily that they were nearly there. Usually Lily was excited to return to Hogwarts, especially since her sister's late teen years, as Petunia began to grow especially vile, but that buzz of anticipation had not taken up its usual home in Lily's chest in the last days of summer. What she was feeling lately could be better identified as dread.

Summer had been abysmally hot and lonely; only punctuated by a very frustrating attempt at a pleasant summer vacation. Their parents had driven them out to a rented cottage in the countryside, where Petunia locked herself in their shared bedroom all hours of the day to talk to a junior sales representative at the drill company where Petunia had gotten a job as a receptionist. Petunia wasn't made for work, she often lamented so to their father, and was hellbent on getting herself married to the first man who would buy her a house in the suburbs with neatly trimmed privets. She didn't speak to Lily the entire summer besides the few occasions she would bang on the bathroom door to tell Lily to 'hurry up already.' It felt like an improvement over the previous summer when Lily overheard Petunia on the phone telling all of her friends that Lily had been sent away to a reform school for criminal girls, which was not the agreed upon family lie that she had gotten full scholarship to a boarding school in Sweden for outstanding academic achievement.

Walking around the village that summer was especially difficult knowing that Lily hadn't been paranoid for thinking the women in the shops were watching her closely or whispering about her. It was even more difficult because she didn't have the companionship of Severus Snape. Severus was the one reason she didn't feel like she had woken up from a fantastical dream every time the school year ended and she had to return to the muggle world. Lily didn't see hide nor hair of Severus all summer, though, and for that she was terribly grateful. Even running into him on the street or in the grocery would be more than Lily's nerves could handle. She had spoken her piece and drawn her line at the end of fifth year when he had called her that wretched name, but she had played the moment over and over in her mind. Despite going over the scenario a million different ways, Lily had not come up with what to say to Severus next, but maybe if she was lucky he'd take the hint and she wouldn't ever have to talk to him again. Between Petunia not speaking to Lily, and Lily not speaking to Severus, Lily was all alone all summer to memorize potions and watch television with her parents. Her parents had noticed her lack of socializing, but only had to ask what Severus was up to once to know not to ever ask again. Her parents certainly knew better than to ask if Severus would like a ride to King's Cross like they did every year, even though every year Lily had to tell them that the Snape's wanted their chance to say goodbye. The reality was that Severus's parents wouldn't let their son near the Evans's, let alone ride in a muggle car with them, and would make Severus floo to the Leaky Cauldron each year to walk to King's Cross alone. Perhaps that why her father was especially miffed that morning Lily was going off to Hogwarts. He had noticed that Lily had no friends and had been chiding Petunia all summer for not spending any time with her sister, and when Petunia had refused to say goodbye to Lily it had been his last straw.

Her father swore some more as they circled the full car park and finally resolved to drop off Lily and her mother while he searched for parking on one of the side streets. Lily headed into the train station with her mother and worried her father wouldn't make in time, as they were already cutting it quite close.

"We'll wait by the entrance for your father," Mrs. Evans said, sensing her daughter's distress and placing a comforting hand on Lily's back as she pushed the trolley with her trunk towards the entrance to Platform 9-3/4. They stood alongside the pillar as several families passed through unnoticed to the awaiting Hogwarts Express. Lily chewed on her thumbnail and kept nervously looking at the clock in the center of the train station. She should have said goodbye to her father when she got out of the car just in case. It was a hell of a summer, but her father had bent over backwards to keep Lily in good spirits and the thought of not seeing him until Christmas without one last hug had tears prickling up in the corners of her eyes.

"It always amazes me that no one ever notices," Lily's mother remarked with awe as another group of Hogwarts students disappeared beside them, "Oh! there's your father!" she said pointing across the train station where Mr. Evans was speed walking towards them.

"Lily!" a voice called through the crowd. Lily turned to see a tall girl with dark cropped hair waving beside another tall woman who seemed to be signing an autograph for a Hogwarts student. Lily recognized the woman was a witch by her slightly off attempt at dressing like a muggle. The girl, a seventh year, Alice Fortescue, approached and introduced herself to Lily's parents just as Mr. Evans joined them.

"Alice- nice to meet you! Lily and I are prefects for Gryffindor," Alice said giving each of Lily's parents a hearty handshake. "Lily, I'll wait for you on the other side of the barrier and we can head to the prefects meeting together."

"Sure-" Lily said, a little surprised, but also relieved, "Thanks. I'll be there in a bit!"

"Unfortunately, I'm in metered parking and I didn't have much change, so we'll have to say our goodbyes here, sweetheart," Mr. Evans said opening his arms to his youngest daughter. She stepped into the hug and gave an extra squeeze before letting go and hugging her mother.

"We'll see you at Christmas, darling," her mother whispered into Lily's hair as she held Lily tight. "We love you and we'll miss you."

"Don't get into any trouble," her father always said, knowing full well that Lily would never. She laughed for his sake and said, "No promises," like she always did then gave her mother and father one last quick hug before pushing her cart through the pillar onto Platform 9-3/4.

* * *

Marlene walked down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express, just as it began to move. She hoped Alice wasn't in the last cart of the train because she always felt so awkward when she couldn't find anyone she knew to sit with. Walking through cart after cart and compartment after compartment of laughing students with their friends staring out the doors and silently judging her always made her uncomfortable. She knew they weren't really judging her, they probably couldn't care less about her considering she wasn't exactly known around the school, but she still felt like people were watching her as she aimlessly wandered down the corridor. Nearly halfway down the train, and halfway to giving up and running back to Rodger's compartment to beg him to pity her and let her sit with him and Dave, she heard a deliberate knocking on the compartment door she had just passed. She turned around to see Sirius Black sticking his head out the door, his long black hair obscuring his face.

"Lost?" Below the fringe of hair was a broad grin. He flicked his head to get the hair out of his eyes and fix Marlene with a cheeky stare to accompany his grin.

"Just looking for Alice," Marlene mumbled, looking out at the passing forrest through the windows. She was not used to being noticed by boys like Sirius, she had to remind herself that as much as Sirius and his friends liked to joke around, though, they never messed around with the girls at Hogwarts.

"Is that Marlene McKinnon?" she heard James Potter call from inside the compartment. "Hey tell her to come in! We never got to talk about the match!" Marlene wondered who else was in the compartment with them. The fact that James and Sirius both wanted to spend time with her actually surprised her a little. She was friendly with several people in her year, but she never felt that she interested any of them much.

"Won't you join us?" Sirius said in a voice that was a bit seductive. All Marlene could think was 'These guys are too cool for me,' she never considered that in the boys' eyes her racing career, and family, made her the coolest one there. Sirius stepped aside and Marlene walked into the compartment to see that it was only James inside.

"Not much to talk about," Marlene said in response to what James had said, ignoring a brief moment of disappointment that it was just the three of them in the compartment. It had, in fact, been the shortest match of Quidditch World Cup History. James and Sirius laughed and the three of them went off on a raging tangent on how disappointing it was.

"We waited four years for that?" Sirius growled.

"There was no sportsmanship! It was all on the Seeker, the least he could've done was let the others play a bit," James responded huffily.

"I'm a Seeker and even I think that was unfair!" replied Marlene. They continued discussing past World Cup matches and some highlights from the previous season. Quidditch was always the easiest thing for Marlene to talk about with boys. She had been raised into it; she knew more about Quidditch than racing, even though that was her sport of choice. She felt it had hindered her in the past, though, because instead of reveling in the fact that she had a common interest with them, the boys at Hogwarts just saw her as 'one of the guys.' Any flirting techniques Alice had graced her with felt clunky and out of character when she tried to use them on anyone who had caught her fancy. She didn't really mind being one of the guys with James and Sirius, who were out of her league anyway, yet she kept catching Sirius staring intently at her and she found herself directing her part of the conversation at James because she didn't quite know what to make of Sirius's gaze. She also felt significantly more comfortable with James, he reminded her of Rodger in many ways.

The conversation had switched into matters of classes, and what everyone planned to do outside of Hogwarts seeing as they only had two more years ahead of them. Marlene was just about to tell the boys how she felt about the whole education system when the door to their compartment slid open. In sidled Peter Pettigrew, significantly tanner and possibly a bit taller than the last time Marlene had seen him. His wiry blond hair sat flatly on top of his round head, and despite the strange contrast against it, Marlene felt that the tan suited him. In fact in that moment Marlene even considered Peter somewhat decent looking on his own. Certainly, compared to James and Sirius, his small, watery eyes and pointed face made him look a bit mousy, but he really wasn't all that bad looking, just a bit heavy set. He also wasn't flooded with a booming personality or outstanding intelligence like the other two and Marlene wondered if he liked hanging in the background, or if he felt overshadowed like she did by Roger sometimes. Marlene considered that Peter could be one of those boys who became more attractive once you got to know him, assuming his personality was good. There were plenty of handsome young men at Hogwarts whose personalities were so foul it was impossible to find them attractive. She wondered if people thought that about her, kind of average looking, but perhaps if they got to know her they would think more of her.

"Pete, do you know Marlene McKinnon?" James said, gesturing towards Marlene.

"Yeah?" he said slowly, eyeing her suspiciously, wondering which of his friends was trying to woo her. Perhaps both? "We've had some classes together." Marlene nodded in response, offering up what she hoped didn't look like a forced smile. Peter dropped his bag and relaxed into the space between James and the window and closed his eyes.

"Merlin Wormtail, was the Prefects' meeting that draining? You're not even a real prefect, you're just Moony's understudy," Sirius said throwing a chocolate frog box at his friend, hoping to gain a reaction. Marlene noted the strange nicknames, unique to each of the boys, that Sirius used. She wondered what they could possibly mean.

"Gideon's been a right prick from the start," Peter sighed without opening his eyes. "He's kept Moony to talk to him about missing his duties." Before anyone could respond, the compartment door slid open once more. Marlene turned to see Remus Lupin, the reason why she hadn't been short with Sirius and stayed in their compartment as long as she did. She felt her heart murmur with excitement as she looked up at him. He looked more tired and skinny as ever, but happy. He shook the hair at the back of his head with his hand in a quick motion that reminded Marlene of Alice's dog. It was a cute habit of his she had always found very endearing.

"Remus, you know-" Sirius started, but Remus was faster.

"Marlene!" he dropped his school bag and opened his arms to her as she stood to greet him. She accepted his invitation without thinking and hugged him quickly before taking a step back. Sirius and James exchanged a look of slight confusion. "What are you doing with these gits?" Remus grinned.

"You guys know each other?" asked Sirius suddenly.

"Slug Club," Remus and Marlene said in unison. They belonged to the rather auspicious group that was gathered by the Potions professor, Professor Slughorn. Not exactly either of their cup of tea, but they had parties every month and were given excellent networking opportunities throughout the year. Slughorn only chose students who showed tremendous potential, probably to return favors to him in the future, which is why Sirius and Peter had been left out. There was a rumor James had been invited initially because of whatever it was his father did, but had his Slug Club privileges revoked almost immediately for some sort prank he and Sirius had played on Severus Snape in their first potions lesson.

Marlene suddenly felt awkward and uncomfortable. Though she was glad that Remus had finally arrived, she cursed the fact that he made her so self-conscious when she had been having such a nice chat with James and Sirius; it didn't feel too different from hanging out with Rodger and Dave. Remus sat next to Marlene, close enough that if she turned too far she'd probably bump her leg into his, and she had to be sure not to do that. The hug was unexpected enough, she didn't want to push her luck. Remus, unlike James, Sirius, and even Peter never really spent as much time with girls. It was like he was afraid of them, though he seemed to be afraid of a lot of things. Sometimes in class him and Marlene would be laughing about something, having a great time and suddenly he would snap to attention and mumble about how they needed to pay attention and stop fooling around. That trait must have been annoying to James and Sirius who always seemed to be fooling around. Remus inquired as to why Marlene was in their compartment and Sirius got oddly defensive about the whole thing. This caught Peter's attention and suddenly the whole cabin was active in the conversation. It was starting to get dark outside, so Marlene excused herself and went to find Alice so she could change into her robes. She stepped out of the compartment, but stopped just outside the line of sight from the door when the boys' conversation floated out into the corridor.

"What the hell was that, Padfoot?" Remus demanded.

"What?" Sirius huffed in response.

"I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition when I walked in," Remus continued.

"The what?" James asked.

"Muggle reference," Peter supplied flatly. At this time Marlene had herself as close to their door as she'd allow herself, listening intently. She didn't see Alice coming down the corridor.

"Merlin, where've you been?" Marlene jumped at the sound of Alice's voice. She put her finger to her lips and pulled Alice closer then pointed in the direction of the compartment she had just left.

"No, 'Hey Moony! How was your summer, how's your mum?' No, you jump down my throat for asking what Marlene was doing here, considering I've never seen any of you talk to her before," Remus continued, his voice raising slightly. "If you're harassing one of my friends I'd like to know."

"I was not harassing Marlene! Why are you three always trying to paint me as some womanizer?"

"Is that-" Alice whispered and Marlene nodded, trying to listen.

" _How is your mum_?" James asked quietly.

"She's fine," replied Remus curtly.

"And your furry little problem?" James asked. To this there was no response. Marlene and Alice looked to each other for answers, but both shrugged. "It's soon isn't it?" James said quietly. Marlene wasn't sure she had heard it right. All she knew was that they weren't arguing over her anymore.

"We should go," Marlene whispered. Alice simply nodded and led the way back to her compartment where Lily Evans, a Gryffindor in Marlene's year, and a few seventh year girls waited, fully dressed in their Gryffindor robes. The usual greetings were exchanged and with a few meaningful looks, Alice and Marlene made it clear to each other that what had happened earlier would be discussed, just not with the others around.


	3. October 1976

"The seventh years are throwing a Halloween party in the Room of Requirement for everyone fifth year and up," James whispered to Sirius, just loud enough for the surrounding students to hear. A slight buzz filled the Transfiguration room as the word spread. McGonagall pursed her lips as the room got more and more excited.

"Please, when you are quite finished, return to your essays. If you do not finish them in class I expect an essay twice as long done for homework," she said curtly. The room was instantly silenced and everyone dropped their heads and returned to scratching their quills across their parchment. Marlene was nearly done and didn't particularly care either way. It was unlikely that her housemates would want to go to the party. She glanced to the left to her roommate, Anna Clearwater, and Anna's boyfriend Gilderoy Lockhart, who was shamelessly glancing at Anna's paper. Neither had so much as looked up from their essays as the rumor spread. Marlene considered the possibility of going with her other roommate, Artemis MacAlary, whom she got along with better than Anna, but there was a good chance Artemis would be arranging a seance or something equally odd for the holiday with her strange boyfriend, Xenophilius Lovegood. It was better if Marlene just didn't go. Alice would probably want her to go, but Marlene always had to take care of her at things like this. No, no good could come of Marlene going to the Halloween party, none at all. She glanced over her essay, barely reading a word, assuming it was in no need of revision and rose at the same time as Remus. They each placed their parchment on McGonagall's desk. McGonagall glanced up briefly and gave a nearly imperceptible nod and the two went on their way. Once outside in the corridor Remus and Marlene both headed to the Great Hall for lunch, discussing how they felt about the essay and wondering aloud how long they thought each of their friends would take to finish.

"James and Sirius will probably be out soon if they stay focussed, but Pete," Remus trailed off. It was well-known that Peter Pettigrew wasn't exactly on-par with his friends. He was nice enough, honestly, and he had a good head for classes like History of Magic and Arithmancy, but hardly any execution skills when it came to practical magic.

"I was surprised they made him Prefect," Marlene admitted.

"Pete makes a fine prefect!" Remus responded defensively, but he didn't say it quite like he meant it.

"Sorry, it's just that I thought you would be made Prefect," Marlene continued, forgetting how protective people could be of their friends, considering she didn't have anyone she felt so strongly about outside her own family.

"Well, I am still a Prefect, but with- erm- my mum being sick all the time I really couldn't fulfill all my duties, Pete sort of fills in. With James and Sirius being such trouble makers, the pickings in Gryffindor's fifth year boys were a bit slim," Remus said with a slight laugh, acknowledging that he understood where Marlene was coming from when she had unintentionally insulted his friend. "He is smart though, in theory, he has some good ideas, but he doesn't have the confidence to follow through. Sometimes I swear he won't do anything without James or Sirius's approval. What about your friends?"

Marlene scrunched her face up a bit; in all her time of being on casual speaking terms with Remus they had never really discussed her housemates, who she didn't exactly consider 'friends.'

"Erm Smith and Boot will probably reread their essays to make them perfect until the last allotted minute before handing them in. Artemis MacAlary is real hit or miss on these sort of things. She's honestly one of the most brilliant in our year, but so brilliant she often gets a bit- er- lost, I suppose. Sometimes she misses the whole point. Then Anna Clearwater could probably finish in a decent amount of time if she didn't wait for Lockhart to finish copying her paper. At least he's smart enough to know how to paraphrase rather than copy word-for-word," Marlene responded plainly.

"I think he's cleverer than you give him credit for. He's just lazy and opportunistic, I bet you by the time we graduate he'll figure out how to get through his whole life like that," Remus responded half joking, half annoyed that he was probably right.

The Ravenclaws of Marlene's year were not exactly her cup of tea. She got along with them just fine, but they were all a bit arrogant. She often found herself trapped in conversations where her housemates would try to outdo each other in terms of deep thinking; as if talking about topical things like Quidditch or music meant you weren't as smart as them. Their conversations would go in circles and sometimes people who agreed with each other would still speak to one another in a tone better suited for an opponent than an ally because they were fighting to get the last word. Anna Clearwater would often cut Marlene off in conversation saying, "No, no, no," then go on to repeat back to Marlene exactly what she had said with different phrasing. It was exhausting listening to the Ravenclaws all talk at each other rather than actually converse. But Marlene found that that was a generational thing. She got along very well with some of the older Ravenclaws like Edgar Bones and his girlfriend, Celeste, who had seemed to have gotten over themselves before she had arrived at Hogwarts. Everyone feels a certain prestige at first when they're sorted into their preferred house. By now, though, most of her older friends had finished Hogwarts, seeing as there was only one year left above her. Marlene also enjoyed the company of the younger Ravenclaws when they would ask her for help with homework. Sometimes explaining the concepts to someone else helped Marlene better understand the concept herself, and she couldn't help but want to dish out advice to younger students so that they could avoid any difficulties at Hogwarts she had faced before them.

Honestly the best thing to have happened to Marlene was the addition of electives to her schedule because she was able to have more classes with the students she had become friendly with in the Slug Club, like Lily Evans and Remus. When they finally reached the Great Hall, Remus went to make his way towards the Gryffindor table, but before he did he asked Marlene if she was going to the Halloween party that night. Under the flickering candle light casting odd shadows through the mouths and eyes of floating Jack-o-lanterns, Remus's wavy brown hair shined like honey. Marlene didn't think twice before she said, "Yes." Maybe some good could come of this party.

* * *

She had been at the party over an hour and it would seem that Marlene was wrong. Nothing good had come so far seeing as Remus, for once, was impossible to talk to. He wasn't making a lot of eye contact, as if he was looking for someone else, and hardly helped the conversation along, making Marlene regret showing up to the Halloween party at all. Most of the people at the party had arrived drunk and she was stone-cold sober. After the tenth conversation between Marlene and Remus died, she finally decided to give up on wracking her brain for an eleventh conversation starter and go find her cousin, Alice.

Marlene hadn't made it very far when Sirius swaggered over to her. Despite being completely shut out by Remus, Marlene couldn't help but smile as Sirius approached. He had been gifting her with little compliments here or there ever since their train ride together. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't pleased with the attention. Sirius and his friends, were easily the best looking blokes in her year and perhaps the years above and below too, but they had always kept to themselves. This drove the girls at Hogwarts crazy, because their affections were rarely ever reciprocated. The Gryffindor boys seemed to always have a project to work on and other than a few flirty conversations, winks, and smiles they rarely gave any girls what they really wanted. Marlene was especially glad for any attention since she got a handle on wearing makeup and doing her hair, and had finally started growing into her long limbs. Anna had told her that focusing on looks rather than intelligence was shallow and made her look stupider than she already was. Not Anna's words exactly, but it was all very heavily implied. It took everything in Marlene to not comment on Anna's boyfriend, who knew more about hair care potions than any of the subjects taught in school. Picking a fight with her roommate would be a complete waste of her energy, so Marlene just pursed her lips and turned back to the mirror to finish drawing in her lower lashes like the muggle models do. In Marlene's opinion, mastering makeup and dressing well were perfectly fine skills to be proud of, and Sirius always took note when Marlene tried something knew with her makeup, which really made it worth her while.

"Well, well, Marlene McKinnon, don't you clean up well," Sirius said with a sparkle in his eye as he gave an appraising look. She faked a curtsy and smiled, "You don't look half bad yourself, Black."

"Now, now aren't we on a first name basis yet?" Sirius asked, eyes wide leaning towards Marlene. She was starting to realize that Sirius was probably drunk, though she had never been too good at noticing until a person was half-gone. Rodger and Dave had gotten away with drinking plenty of times over summer holidays and Marlene had been none the wiser.

"You called me by my full name," Marlene pointed out.

"Yes, I like how it rolls off the tongue 'Marlene McKinnon,' but you can just call me Sirius," he grinned toothily as his hair fell into his face. A quick flick of the neck and it was all back in place, but the grin didn't drop for a moment.

"Sirius," Marlene said slowly as Sirius moved even closer. She hardly had time to come up with anything else to say before his lips were on hers. And then there was a lot more than lips on hers. It was like kissing a dog, all sloppy and wet. She pulled away slowly and forced a smile despite the amount of saliva on her face.

"I'm gonna go get another drink" she tried to say casually, but the disappointment crept up in her voice. At least Sirius was probably too drunk to hear it.

Marlene got a sinking feeling as she wove through the party towards the drinks table. That was her first kiss and, though she tried not to build it up, something like that tends to hold a lot of importance in a girl's life. Then there was the unmistakable taste of Firewhiskey on Sirius's breath and the fact that her immediate thought after kissing Sirius was worrying if Remus had seen. Even though Marlene had never kissed anyone before, she was pretty sure that thinking about someone else was not the proper thing to do.

She sidled over to the drink table and eyed the Cauldron Brew. It was a strange combination of sherbet, juice, and liquor concocted by a seventh year. It had a nice salmon tinge to it, but the half melted sherbet made it an odd consistency. Marlene glanced around the room at all the girls with glasses full of the odd mixture; they all looked like they were having more fun than she was. She thought of what her mother had told her about how love potions could be easily mixed into communal drinks, but then she remembered an article in Witch Weekly denounced that as a myth, seeing as alcohol tended to make most love potions invalid. Remembering this she decided to take the risk and conjure a goblet.

About half-way through her first goblet, Marlene noticed Lily Evans approach. Lily eyed the fruity mix in Marlene's hand, but didn't say a word. Lily was good about that, having plenty to say, but knowing when not to say it.

"How many have you had?" Lily finally asked, after mulling over several more blunt conversation starters.

"Just this one," Marlene said after her last gulp.

"Well, don't have too much, or you'll regret it," Lily responded while sweeping her gaze over the crowd. Marlene followed Lily's eyes to a few older Hufflepuffs who had definitely had too much. Lily's lips were pursed, but still she kept her mouth shut.

"What's your story? I was expecting you to come in here and shut this all down," Marlene asked tactlessly, was the Brew already starting to set in?

"I'm allowed to have fun too!" Lily snapped back rather weakly.

"How many have _you_ had?" Marlene questioned.

"None."

"Well then, join the party." And with that, Marlene conjured another goblet and filled both with the fruity cocktail. With some hesitance Lily took the goblet.

"Cheers, then," she said clinking the edge with Marlene's and downed the whole thing in one chug. "I'm glad someone warned me not to wear a costume to this," Lily said after starting her second goblet.

"Why would you wear a costume?" Marlene asked curiously looking at Lily over the top of her own goblet.

"That's what muggles do at Halloween parties, they dress up like monsters and witches," Lily answered.

"Oh yeah. I never liked that," Marlene responded, thinking back to muggle primary school when children would make fun of witches at Halloween. Marlene imagined someone dressing up as her and shuddered. One of her was probably more than enough.

* * *

By the time Alice found Lily and Marlene, they were dancing in the middle of the group singing along to one of the muggle songs that was playing. They had each finished six goblets and had convinced each other that if they stopped moving they'd probably end up on the floor. They screamed Alice's name in unison, as well as anyone else in their favor that walked by. Marlene and Lily were the perfect drunks together, each with their fair share of stresses from the day melting away with each sip of their very alcoholic drinks. The two of them had plowed straight through tipsy into nearly blacked-out when they dubbed themselves best friends. At the point where all filters, inhibitions, or any real common sense were long gone Marlene decided to stagger off in search of Remus while Alice entertained an uncharacteristically talkative Lily.

Marlene had some serious tunnel vision, like nothing existed outside the incessant music pounding in her ears and whatever she happened to be looking at ahead of her. Find Remus, find Remus, find Remus, ran through her brain like a broken record and finally she found him. Remus. Unfortunately she didn't notice that Sirius and Peter were leaned up against the wall right next to him. That damned tunnel vision. She was about to start talking to Remus when an arm snaked around her waist and a breath, hot on her neck spoke, "Come back for more, babes?" She watched Remus stare holes into whomever it was with his arm on her waist. Her vision wobbled a bit as she tried to focus on the face next to hers. Sirius Black. Sirius. Remus. And Pettigrew standing just to Remus's right. Oh. Oh well. Sirius slipped a wet kiss onto Marlene's cheek while she stared at Remus, and Remus stared at Sirius. With a roll of his eyes Remus pushed himself off the wall and stalked off.

"Wait- I- em," Marlene couldn't form the words, let alone sentences to make Remus stay. Peter assessed the situation for a moment then chose to follow Remus. Marlene wondered where James was for a fleeting moment before she realized she needed to extricate herself from Sirius.

"Forget about him," Sirius grumbled, looking off in the direction Remus had gone. Marlene wasn't entirely sure Sirius was addressing her, so she took advantage of his distraction and freed herself from Sirius's grasp, saying a forceful goodbye. Now was probably a good time to get back to Alice and Lily.

Finding them was easy enough because Lily was yelling at James Potter.

"Leave me alone Potter!"

"Aw come on Evans! Why do you hate me so much? Merlin, is this still about what happened first year? Has Snivellus been making up lies about me again?" Both parties were clearly drunk and Alice was trying really hard to pull Lily away.

"Your being a total prick has nothing to do with _Severus_!" Lily screamed in response. Her hand was gripping tightly onto her wand at her side, knuckles white. Knowing the damage Lily could do, and having lost all skills of logic possibly hours before, Marlene chose to step in to help Alice.

"Alright, alright," a booming voice said. Rodger and Dave stepped into the small throng of curious students. Dave put a hand on James's chest and said something quietly that made James relax and look shamefully at the floor. Rodger put a hand on Lily's shoulder and said "Look, Evans, I know you don't want Prewett hearing about this. I think it's time for you to get back to the dorms," Rodger said gently, knowing just how to deal with angry teen girls. "You too," he snapped at Marlene.

Dave and Rodger all but dragged Marlene and Lily back to their respective towers because the last of the alcohol they had consumed really hit them after Lily and James's fight.

"Damnit Mars, what the hell were you thinking getting this drunk? Have I taught you nothing?" Rodger asked, heavy with disappointment and the dead weight of his sister.

Her head lolled on her shoulders when she barely whispered, "Sorry Rod."

"We'll talk about this tomorrow," Rodger responded huffily when they finally managed to get both girls up to the landing in front of the door to Ravenclaw's common room. Dave was eager to deposit Marlene at her house because carrying Lily would be infinitely easier with Rodger's help. Small as she was, Lily was not making the journey easy, deciding her legs simply couldn't do another set of stairs.

The bronze eagle on the door to the Ravenclaw common room opened it's beak slowly and spoke a simple riddle, "What is it that no man has yet see, which never was, but will always be?" simple, that is, if Marlene had not been nearly passed out on her brother's shoulder.

"The hell is that?" Dave asked, looking incredulously at the bronze eagle. The bronze eagle simply answered in its cool, metallic tone, "Sorry, but that is not the logical answer to this riddle. Think on this for it will only make you wiser."

"It's tha wee we get en, y'gotta answer tha riddle," Marlene supplied.

"Well what's the answer, Mars?" Rodger asked impatiently as he shifted her weight a bit to get a better grip on her.

"Ya thenk aye can figgar tha out righ' now?" Marlene responded, spilling her words into each other. Her brogue had gotten thicker with the alcohol, much like their father's did.

"I don't have time to wait 'round here for you to sober up and sort this out," Rodger growled in frustration. Curfew was fast approaching and he could just imagine the howler he'd receive from their mother if Marlene got caught out drunk because he had left her there. He picked his sister up and threw her over his shoulder and thanked Merlin they had been doing so many team work outs at Quidditch practice. "This is a lot easier," Rodger grunted at Dave and he turned and descended the stairs of Ravenclaw Tower. Dave followed suit by tossing Lily over his shoulder and she only made a slight groan of discontent at the new position, but the boys covered the distance from Ravenclaw to Gryffindor in half the time had they dragged the girls.

"We're going to bring your sister into Gryffindor?" Dave asked as they approached the portrait hole.

"S'not like she's the first Ravenclaw to sneak into the dorms," Rodger responded. In fact there was probably at least one person from every house but Slytherin to make it into Gryffindor just within the seven years Dave and Rodger had been at Hogwarts, not that they were necessarily the ones doing the sneaking. They supplied the password to a disapproving Fat Lady and made it to the foot of the stairs to the girls' dorms.

"Well, feck," Dave said suddenly, still with Lily over his shoulder. "We can't go up to the girls' dorms, remember? The trick step?" Rodger just groaned in response.

"Do we leave them on the couch?" Dave continued.

"No, Prewett likes to hang out here on the weekends, you know that," Rodger responded. Truthfully, Dave did not know that because he usually slept straight through the weekends, unless they had early morning Quidditch practice. The boys had learned early in September that outside of house pride there really weren't many perks to having the Head Boy come from your house.

"We'll have to take them to our room," Rodger sighed. It was obvious at this point that both girls were completely passed out. This last set of stairs felt the longest and hardest to climb, because Rodger and Dave knew they were so close to their beds.

Dave offered up his bed for the girls and prayed one of them wouldn't vomit in it durning the night. Laid side by side on Dave's bed, Rodger pulled the blankets up over Lily and Marlene's shoulders.

"You so owe me," Rodger whispered in Marlene's ear before kissing her on the top of her head. He pulled the curtains closed around the bed, so none of their roommates would notice upon return from the party that two girls, one not even a Gryffindor, were shacked up in their dorm.

"Time to cuddle, mate," Dave said posing seductively on Rodger's bed. Rodger shoved him playfully and laid shoulder to shoulder with Dave. It was easier to fit both of them in a single bed the first time they had had a sleepover at Dave's in their first year. Now they were nearly twice as wide in the shoulders and significantly taller, something that didn't seem to bother Dave at all who was already snoring softly beside Rodger. The floor this time of year in the stone tower would be too cold to lay on, something Rodger was reminded of every time he stepped out of bed in the morning, but he wasn't going to get any sleep half hanging out of his bed with Dave, who was even taller and broader than he was, passed out by his side. Rodger gathered a pillow and a spare blanket from his trunk and took one for the team by choosing to sleep on the common room couch, figuring the girls would be fine as long as Dave was nearby.

* * *

"Morning sunshine, lunch is in half an hour," a male voice rang out, cutting through Marlene's frenzied dreams. A male voice? She opened her eyes and was nearly blinded by the light streaming in through the windows causing a terrible headache to flare up. Suddenly a figure was blocking out the sun. She focused her eyes.

"Davie! What are you doing in my dorm?"

"I should ask you the same thing," Dave said with that too big, goofy grin plastered on his face. Marlene looked around and realized she was definitely not in her dormitory. She was still groggy, but she could tell by the fact that everything was maroon and gold that she was in Gryffindor.

"Who's bed-"

"Mine," Dave answered before Marlene could finish asking.

"Yours?" Marlene asked, eyes going wide at the implication. Why couldn't she remember how she got here, and why did her mouth taste like something had crawled into it last night and died?

"Relax, it was you and Evans in the bed, I was shacked up with Rod."

"Oh," Marlene said with relief. Some remnants of the night floating into her memory. "Where are they?"

"I think Evans woke up and went to her own bed in the middle of the night, but Rod left early to go fly around the pitch. He's a bit miffed," Dave said earnestly, staring out the window that looked onto the Quidditch pitch. Marlene groaned and gripped her head, praying for some relief. Dave wordlessly handed Marlene a small midnight blue bottle that she recognized as hangover potion.

"Thanks," Marlene said quietly, taking a swig from the bottle.

"Rod told me not to give you any," Dave grinned, "but we've all had our nights. We should probably get you back to Ravenclaw and cleaned up before rumors start spreading, little Miss Marlene," Dave said with a wink and he accompanied her back to her own tower. He waited patiently outside, trying to figure out the bronze eagle's various riddles while Marlene changed and freshened up before they both headed down to the Great Hall for lunch.


	4. November 1976

Sirius wasn't really sure what drew him down to the pitch that day. He had woken up with the rising sun and despite his desperation he could not fall back to sleep. He had a lot on his mind lately. He was behind in Potions because he spent more time the previous year trying to sabotage Snape than pay attention to techniques he needed to know for sixth year. McGonagall had told him after the O.W.L.'s that if he truly wanted to become an Auror he would need to make it into the N.E.W.T. level Potions. McGonagall was one of the few professors to really see that Sirius wasn't like the rest of his family and he was desperate to become an Auror to prove that to everyone else.

Remus had also been quite short with Sirius since they first saw each other on the Hogwarts Express and he had only gotten colder since the Halloween party. In all, things weren't quite back to normal with the Marauders since Sirius had nearly gotten all four of them expelled and Snape killed the year before. That was one of the tipping points that had left Sirius homeless over the summer, crashing in the Potter's guest room for the foreseeable future. Sirius loved James, but they were on top of each other all summer, and then crammed in a room with two more smelly, hormonal teenage boys and sometimes Sirius felt like he couldn't breathe. He hadn't had a minute alone to really process the fact that, though he was no long trapped at Grimmauld Place, he wasn't yet ready to be on his own. His baby brother was always lurking around Hogwarts with aspiring Death Eaters, he was only two years away from having to face the world that was in the midst of a massive blood war, and on top of all of that he had kissed Marlene McKinnon, the only girl at school who was cool enough to actually spend time with. Sirius couldn't help but think about what Remus had said on the train, _If you're harassing one of my friends, I'd like to know_ , or the fact that Sirius had kissed Marlene in plain sight at the party, or that Remus hadn't stuck around long when Marlene had joined their conversation. Now he probably had to date Marlene or never talk to her again, neither of which he wanted to do.

So Sirius, mind buzzing with all the trouble in his life, lay in his bed hopelessly awake in the wee morning hours. Remus was in the Hospital Wing resting after a particularly rough full moon, James had a serious cold that had kept him up all night, and Peter had pissed Sirius off the day before for calling him Remus's boyfriend. Flying seemed like the only reasonable way to pass the time alone. Sirius propped open the window between his and James's bed to test the air. It was absolutely frigid and for some reason Sirius felt the reckless urge to just head out in the t-shirt and sweatpants he had slept in; irrationally hoping that the cold air would do him good. He decided to, at the very least, wear a coat so that he wouldn't end up with a cold like James.

As he walked through the quiet castle and out toward the Quidditch pitch Sirius kept thinking about Moony alone in the hospital wing. Prongs would need PepperUp potion, no doubt, so maybe Sirius could stop by and visit Remus under the guise of picking up the potion. Sirius's stomach twisted at the thought. He shouldn't need an excuse to visit his best mate when he's alone in that place, but he felt like he needed an excuse. Madame Pomfrey wasn't the only person to question his frequent visits to Remus. Sirius grabbed his broom from the closet and gripped the handle tightly; he just needed a few good laps to clear his head, a few cold breaths to calm him down. He was glad to have some alone time, but when he stepped out onto the pitch he realized he wasn't the only one there. High in the sky someone was circling the pitch at an alarming rate. No Quidditch brooms could fly that fast because the speed often sacrificed stopping and turning abilities. It didn't take long for it to occur to Sirius that the person in the air was on a racing broom, and that that person was probably Marlene.

"Hey!" he shouted up to the her. At first he thought she hadn't heard him, but she started to descend towards him. He liked Marlene. She had a dry sense of humor and was quick with a come back and not bad to look at either. She was tall and fit like her brother, but she was a little better at carrying herself than he was. All the McKinnon's were notably attractive. Dave Davies wasn't the only one with a picture of their cousin Aela in his Quidditch locker, much to Rodger's dismay. Moira looked like Aela, and would probably look a lot more like her in the coming years as she grew into herself. Sirius had a lot on his mind since Halloween, but remembering kissing Marlene and thinking about kissing her again was one of the more pleasant things occupying his thoughts. But for some reason, Sirius didn't feel like pursuing things with Marlene was the right move right now. He was kind of a mess, and liked her too much to want to burden her with all of his issues.

* * *

Marlene had her glasses on, which was rare for her because she really hated how they looked. She'd sit herself in the front of every class just to guarantee that she wouldn't have to wear the thick frames in front of everyone. Even with her glasses on, though, Marlene didn't have the best eyesight and it took her a while to realize that it was Sirius Black who had called up to her. She started to feel a little nervous especially since it was way too late to pretend like she hadn't noticed him and continue flying. She had spent half the month thinking about what a mess the Halloween party was, but based on everyone's gossip the next few days, no one seemed to notice that her and Lily had been in rare form. Things with Remus had gotten weird and she couldn't help but feel like he was mad at her, maybe for kissing Sirius? That was yet another thing that had been bothering her.

She could not decipher her feelings for Sirius no matter how much she thought about it. In two weeks they hadn't talked besides awkwardly polite hello's in their few shared classes. If Sirius was interested in her he wasn't exactly jumping at the opportunity to make it known. Perhaps he had changed his mind, lost interest, or maybe he was waiting for Marlene to make a move. If Sirius had changed his mind about Marlene she didn't want to make herself vulnerable by bringing it all up again. Marlene supposed if she wasn't jumping out of her skin to clear things up with Sirius she probably wasn't too interested in him anyway. Her several-year-long crush on Remus really dwarfed any sort of excitement she had gotten from the attention Sirius had given her earlier in the year. Marlene wished she could be content to let things with Sirius die out and go on pining for Remus in secret as she had been before the Quidditch World Cup, but thoughts of Sirius and Remus crept into nearly every moment of her day. It was possible that it was just puberty making her brain foggy with thoughts of boys instead of more pressing matters like classes, her upcoming Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, or her impending future outside of Hogwarts, so she forced herself to fly early every morning in an attempt to have something else to focus on. However, as Marlene slowed her speed and descended toward the grassy pitch, she found her biggest distraction intruding her sanctuary.

"I thought that was you," Sirius said holding his hand over his eyes and smiling as Marlene came to a hover above him.

"I never took you for a morning person," Marlene responded casually. On the inside she kept repeating be cool, don't be weird.

"Yeah," Sirius drawled as he scratched the back of his neck, "I'm not usually, but I needed to clear my head."

"I can understand that," Marlene said, mostly to herself.

"Mind if I join you?" Sirius asked holding out his broom to prove his intentions.

"Sure," Marlene said. She considered saying something like 'If you can keep up,' but it was too early and Marlene decided the attention had been nice, but flirting was only dragging out this thing she didn't really want to be part of anymore.

They took off into the sky and Marlene paced herself off of Sirius. Her racing broom was capable of much higher speeds, but what good was flying with someone if you were always one lap ahead? She started to notice their speed was slowing considerably and they found themselves in a casual conversation. Talk of brooms, Quidditch, annoying housemates, and classes somehow kept leading to Sirius bringing up Remus, the one person Marlene did not necessarily want to talk about. Remus hadn't been to a Slug Club meeting since Halloween, which wasn't all bad because at least now Marlene had Lily. But Remus wouldn't sit next to her in class, wouldn't look at her in the halls, and sure he had been sick the past few days, but she doubted that if he was well things would be going any better. The whole time Marlene and Sirius talked this gnawed at her, finally she couldn't stop herself from asking: "Is Remus avoiding me?"

Sirius stopped in mid-air and Marlene had to spin her broom around to face him.

"Well, he's been sick," Sirius said in a confused tone.

"I know, I mean before that," Marlene pressed. She didn't know why she was burdening Sirius with her insecurities. Sirius seemed to have lost interest in Marlene as well, but now he struck her as someone who could be a decent friend. They could have just flown around in silence this whole time, after all.

Sirius screwed up his face, as if he was trying to remember every single conversation he had ever had with Remus since the beginning of the year. With the way Sirius talked about him, he probably did. "I honestly don't know," he said finally, with a sigh. "We haven't really talked much lately. Maybe he's mad at both of us." Sirius seemed deflated and Marlene was never one to miss something like that.

"Is that why you came out here to clear your head?" Marlene asked carefully, fully expecting a brush off. Sirius struggled to find an answer, starting and stopping several times. Marlene fixed him with a stare that she hoped said 'You can trust me,' though she felt it probably looked more like 'Don't bother lying because I'll know.'

"It's just- There's a lot of things, but yeah, I guess so," Sirius responded, deflating even more.

"I get it, he's your best mate-"

"I don't know," but Sirius stopped himself and closed his mouth. Marlene continued to look him dead in the eye and simply raised an eyebrow, but she did not press him for more. It was obvious there was more Sirius wanted to say, but was not ready to share. Sirius looked towards the sun, which by this point had fully broken over the Forbidden Forest. The sky was no longer that inky blue mixed with the soft pinks of a sunrise.

"I don't want to offend you, Marlene, I think you're really cool, but I've got a lot going on right now. I'd like to be friends- just friends, if that's alright with you. I'm sorry about Halloween," Sirius said still squinting at the sun.

"That's fine," she responded simply, "As long as you're not offended that I feel the same way." Sirius turned his head back to face Marlene and fixed her with a toothy grin.

"That's grand," he said, and then there was a long pause where he really assessed Marlene. She felt a little odd watching Sirius's eyes roam her, but he suddenly said matter-of-factly, "Marlene, you're quite tall."

"Em," was all Marlene could think to say for a moment. "I suppose I'm tall compared to most girls, but I think you and I are the same height," she finally said, still confused as to why Sirius would say that so suddenly. Frankly, she was a little self-conscious about her height because the boys in her year only just started catching up to her.

"What's your waist size?" he asked with a tone that sounded so genuinely curious that Marlene felt inclined to answer before feeling inclined to be offended. All the same, she responded by saying playfully, "It's not polite to ask a lady her size, Sirius."

"I'm sorry!" he said quickly realizing his mistake and hastily tried to explain himself. "It's just I've lost a bet with James, and all the Gryffindor girls I know are so small," Sirius looked at Marlene who probably looked very confused, "Have you got a spare skirt I could borrow?"

* * *

Sirius and Marlene reconvened between breakfast and first lessons in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Poor Myrtle was gurgling away in the U-Bend two stalls down from Sirius.

"Mars?" Sirius said through the stall door, before quickly adding, "Can I call you that? Sorry, I know Rodger and Dave do. I think it's cute."

"Yeah," Marlene said simply, leaning with her back pressed against the closed stall door, "I don't care, it's just a dumb nickname from when Rodger and I were little."

"You two are very close," Sirius said as he stepped out of his school trousers and tossed them to hang over the stall door, not knowing Marlene was leaned right on the other side. She batted the legs of Sirius's trousers away from her face, but responded, "We're 'Irish twins' we were only born ten months apart. Rodger calls me 'Mars' because 'Marlene' was too hard to say as a toddler." Sirius thought about how hard "Regulus" had been to pronounce in his early years, even now, though less often, Sirius still referred to his younger brother as just "Reg." Sirius took the skirt Marlene had brought off the hook in the bathroom stall and inspected it. Initially he did not know which way was the front or how to get the buttons to line up with the holes correctly and he continued chatting as he tried wrapping the skirt a few times to get it right.

"I'm surprised your brother didn't try to scare me off or threaten me after I kissed you."

"Rodger was mostly angry with me for getting so drunk," Marlene said with a little laugh, "If he was really worried about a guy he'd say something to me, not to you. I know he's protective of me, but he's not gonna run guys off so I can't date anyone. What kind of brother doesn't want his little sister to be happy _ever_ , or learn from her own mistakes?" Sirius hummed in agreement, heavily concentrated on the skirt. The buttons all lined up and it was a little looser on his straight hips than it probably was on Marlene, but it fit.

"I don't get along with my brother at all. Not anymore," Sirius said swishing his hips back and forth a bit to watch the skirt move over his knees. He sighed and leaned his back against the stall door.

"You're not like the rest of your family, though," Marlene said quietly. Sirius closed his eyes and savored the statement. Marlene continued, "My family are basically my only friends, but you have James," and Marlene hastily added, "and Remus and Peter," but it was different and she knew it. Marlene finished with, "Your friends _are_ your family." Sirius took a deep breath. It had felt that way for a long time, but it was especially true now.

" _They're all I have_ ," he said so quietly he wasn't sure if Marlene had heard him, but he continued on, "Right before we saw you at the Quidditch World Cup- well, I had already been on thin ice with my parents for years and at the end of fifth year I did something especially bad and almost got expelled- but there's this muggle band called Queen-"

"They're quite good, Lily likes them too," Marlene interjected to let Sirius know she was listening.

"I had been able to catch them on Muggle stations on the wireless a few times, and there were signs all over saying that they were playing at this arena in West London, not far from my house, so I snuck out and went." Sirius got quiet again, not sure if he should continue. He hadn't even told James about this, only Mrs. Potter when she helped clean up his face that night he showed up on their doorstep. Marlene waited for him to continue, sensing the gravity.

"I made friends with these muggles in line that were about our age, they were amazing, so cool and free. One of the lads had eyeshadow and lipstick on and asked if I wanted some. He did me up and one of the girls put glitter all over my face as well, and it was honestly one of the best nights of my life, and the concert was extraordinary," he paused thinking about Freddie Mercury prancing around stage in a garish skin-tight jumpsuit, and the muggles he was with, two of which he wasn't sure if they were guys or girls, he supposed it didn't matter much, snogging without any worry. It was the first time Sirius had really realized he didn't have to be so goddamn miserable and uptight all the time simply because that's how he was raised. "Anyway," he continued, "When I tried to sneak back in, one of the portraits by our front door started yelling and woke up my mother and her screaming woke up my father, and when he saw that I was drunk in muggle clothes with makeup and glitter all over my face," Sirius swallowed hard remembering his split lip and black eye, "it did not go over well. They kicked me out, and the Potter's graciously took me in."

Marlene was dead silent, but the skirt was on and Sirius figured it was time to face his decision to put it on. He had remained casual about wearing a skirt, playing it off like a cheeky little game to uphold his end of the bet, but when Marlene agreed, Sirius actually let himself get a little excited about trying on the skirt. Sirius pushed himself off the door, unlocked it, and opened it. Marlene stumbled in a step or two, having been leaned up against the other side of the stall door without Sirius realizing. She righted herself and they made eye contact. She hastily wiped away tears from her eyes and the knot in Sirius's stomach loosened. Marlene gave Sirius a watery smile and pulled him into a tight hug whispering, "I'm so sorry Sirius," into his shoulder. After a long moment she let go and stepped back enough to let Sirius out of the stall he had been changing in to get a good look at him. He hesitated stepping out, but Marlene gave a hearty whistle when she took in his appearance, so he strutted out into the middle of the abandoned bathroom and gave a spin.

"It suits you," Marlene said with a smirk, clearly amused.

"I have to wear it for a week or until a teacher tells me to take it off," Sirius said, catching sight of himself in one of the patinated mirrors. "I quite like it," he said checking himself out, "It's very freeing, I see why girls like wearing them." Marlene watched Sirius grin and swish the skirt back and forth in the mirror, realizing she had never seen his bare legs before. She laughed at his delight and offered up, "It's kind of hot."

"Oh is that what you're into, Marlene McKinnon?" Sirius said turning to her and cocking a cheeky eyebrow.

"Men wear kilts all the time in Ireland," Marlene responded, "You British are so repressed." The two laughed so loud that they disturbed Moaning Myrtle who came out just to demand to know why a boy was in the girls' bathroom and why that boy was wearing a skirt.

"Myrtle, you're just jealous you can't wear whatever you want and are stuck in that old uniform forever," Marlene spit back at Myrtle, who howled and launched herself back into her toilet with a resounding splash.

"Merlin, that was really mean of me wasn't it?" Marlene said, looking embarrassed, but Sirius appreciated being defended.

"Hey Mars, if my brother or his friends give you or Evans any trouble, you let me know alright?"

* * *

The weather changed rapidly within the following week and by the end of November it had already snowed twice. Flying in the snow wasn't much of a comfort to Marlene, so she started to buckle down in the library with Lily. Sixth year was considerably more difficult than the previous years and it was becoming obvious that Marlene couldn't get away with not studying and completing assignments last minute for much longer. She didn't entirely mind the change in routine, though, because she was getting much closer with Lily, and it was nice to have a girl friend that wasn't related to her. Alice, meanwhile, was bogged down studying for her N.E.W.T's and worrying about securing an interview with the Auror program.

"Have you talked to Remus recently?" Lily asked after less than twenty minutes of silent work. As usual Marlene didn't want to talk about it, but she had been staring at her parchment all this time with nothing more than her name, title, and thesis written down.

"Not since Halloween," Marlene admitted quietly.

"That was nearly a month ago!"

"Yeah, I've realized," Marlene said tersely.

"Do you still like him?" Lily pressed.

"I might, but I feel like I'm wasting my time. He's sweet one minute and guarded the next. Not exactly great qualities for a relationship," Marlene said, finally making eye contact with Lily. This conclusion had taken her a lot of thinking to get to, but it felt right when she said it. She still liked Remus, she couldn't just make the feeling go away, but she wasn't planning on investing much time or effort in either when those feelings clearly weren't reciprocated. Lily looked down at the table and seemed to think about what to say next.

"There's always Sirius," she finally said in a sarcastic tone that clearly implied that Sirius was not even a little bit of an option. Marlene chuckled, she hadn't even needed to tell Lily about the conversation on the Quidditch pitch for her to know her short-lived fling with Sirius was over. "You wanna know what I think?" Lily asked in a hushed tone that sounded like she was about to spill a big secret. Marlene knew her response would not determine whether or not Lily would continue, but she nodded her head anyway.

"I think Remus is _gay_."

"Look, Lils I know you're just trying to make me feel better-"

"No, seriously, listen. You said he got all mad when Sirius kissed you, right? Well, he hasn't done anything since the party to show he likes you, maybe he wasn't jealous of Sirius, he was jealous of you!"

"What?" Marlene interjected, forgetting to keep her voice down. Lily just folded her arms and looked proud of her deduction skills. Lowering her voice, Marlene continued, "You think _Remus likes Sirius_?"

"You said it yourself a few weeks ago, he seems like he's afraid of girls, he's shy, and quiet. And I've noticed his relationship with Sirius is different from his relationship with Potter and Pettigrew, ya know?" Marlene shook her head, she didn't know. She was far too busy pining after Remus to notice any signs that he might like someone else, especially Sirius.

"Sirius talks about Remus a lot, and said he thought Remus was mad at him after the party," Marlene said slowly, as if what Lily was saying was beginning to sink in.

"Really? Do you think Sirius likes Remus? Oh Merlin do you think they both know the other likes them or do you think they're hiding their feelings? Still doesn't explain why Sirius would kiss you, unless he's confused," Lily whispered excitedly.

"Merlin, Lily calm down! Sirius did apologize for that, he said he'd rather just be my friend," Marlene answered, and though it would've supported Lily's theory, Marlene didn't feel the need to share what Sirius had told her in the loo, it felt entirely too personal.

"Then Sirius is gay too! I mean look at you, you're fit and a famous racer-"

"Not like I have many other takers," Marlene cut in. "It doesn't make him or Remus gay, though," Marlene persisted, hoping that Sirius being gay didn't spell doom for her, considering he was the only guy she knew of that had ever been interested in her.

"Whatever, I just wanted to say what I thought," Lily said still smiling.

"You're mad," Marlene said with a slight laugh, "Since when did you pay so much attention to them anyway, I thought you couldn't stand them?"

"I've had a lot of time on my hands since I stopped being friends with Severus," Lily shrugged, "And it's amazing how much good you can see in a person when you don't have someone in your ear complaining about them all day." Marlene just shook her head and continued wracking her brain for something to say in her Potions essay. Unfortunately all Marlene could think about was that Lily might have been onto something.

"Have you completed Slughorn's essay yet?" Marlene asked Lily as she returned from her latest search for a book that might help her make of sense out of her Astronomy homework.

"No, but obviously I'm not too worried; I could pull the answers out of my arse and Slughorn would still eat them up," Lily said after taking a seat and leaning back confidently.

"Cheeky," Marlene said under her breath, which Lily responded to by tossing a roll of parchment at her.

"Astronomy, though, is a different story entirely," Lily said mournfully while rifling through her bag on the floor.

"Well now, you know Jamesie is quite good at Astronomy," said a voice from behind Marlene. Lily popped back up from under the table and frowned slightly. Marlene turned around to find James and Sirius behind her, each holding a sizable stack of books.

"Mind if we sit?" James asked looking to Lily. All the other tables seemed to be full so out of pure politeness Lily gave a tight nod and shifted her books and papers closer to herself. The boys dropped their stacks onto the table unceremoniously and seated themselves across from the girls.

"Haven't seen either of you around much," Sirius said conversationally. Lily turned her head towards him with a face that would've been better suited as a response to an inappropriate joke.

"Been here," Marlene said without looking up from her Potions essay. She didn't want to be rude, especially considering her and Sirius were definitely friends now, but she could feel Lily's discomfort radiating off her, so maybe it was just better to forgo all conversation at that time. Sirius thankfully took the hint to keep his mouth shut after Marlene made some deliberate eye contact while nodding her head in Lily's direction and then shaking her head. James and Lily missed the entire exchange because each was equally wrapped up in what they were doing.

After some time, Marlene started to notice Lily getting more and more restless. She kept rifling through her papers, digging around in her bag, and opening and closing different books without reading more than a page. Soon, Marlene noticed the others noticing too, until Lily was all but frantically trying to find something to do. James, Sirius, and Marlene were all staring at Lily until she seemed to sense their eyes and looked up. A little surprised to find all three of them looking at her, she quickly looked at James then returned her gaze to the table. Putting her pride aside Lily forced herself to say, "Potter, will you help me with the Astronomy assignment?"

James's face lit up and he grinned briefly before trying to compose himself and try to say in a cool tone, "Sure- er- I'll help you." He coughed slightly because in trying to sound calm and collected, he dropped his voice to a strangely low octave. Sirius snickered and Marlene tried very hard not to laugh herself, but James continued in his normal voice, "There's a few great books in the Astronomy aisle that I used on the last assignment that might really help."

"Okay," said Lily hesitantly. She was taking a big leap of faith in trusting James with anything, but Sirius and Marlene weren't taking Astronomy, so he was her only hope.

"Here, I'll show you," James said standing. Lily followed his lead and disappeared behind the shelves. Sirius and Marlene watched even after they were out of sight, half expecting an explosion or yelling or both.

"Well, that went well," Marlene finally said in disbelief.

"Looks like Evans has finally matured a little," Sirius said turning back around to face Marlene.

" _Evans_ has matured? Don't you mean _Potter_? Obviously Lily is more mature than James," Marlene said defensively.

"In every other instance, yeah," Sirius admitted, "but James is not the one that's been holding onto a first year grudge."

"I'm sorry, I distinctly remember you two terrorizing her best friend just last year," Marlene said even more defensively. Of course Marlene could never stand Snape, and yeah maybe she found the nickname Snivellus a little fitting, but Lily was still kind of traumatized over the whole ordeal. She had gone five years without really making any other friends, and then her only close friend called her a 'filthy Mudblood,' and Marlene being a half-blood herself knew exactly how much that word was worth. At Marlene's last comment Sirius shut up immediately, even paled a little.

"He kept sticking his long nose places it didn't belong. Almost cost me my friendship with Remus! You don't know what he did to us," Sirius said angrily, his voice raising with each sentence. Marlene was surprised to hear any of these statements. She held up her hands, "Sirius calm down, I'm sorry. You're right, I don't know- I didn't know- what happened?"

"We don't talk about it," Sirius said looking down at the parchment in front of him, "All is forgiven as long as Snape keeps up his end of the bargain and leaves us the hell alone." Marlene didn't have a single word to say to that, Sirius had opened up quite a lot to Marlene recently and she didn't want to push it. She wished she could talk to Lily about it, but Lily didn't talk about Snape as much anymore. It was probably best to just leave it all alone. By the time Lily and James got back it was nearly curfew, so they all packed up their books and made to leave.

"Sirius, I was just wondering when I'd be getting my skirt back," Marlene said as they all headed to the west wing together.

"That's _your_ skirt?" Lily laughed, but stopped at the sour look Sirius gave her. Lily cleared her throat and admitted, "It fits you very well, Black."

"The bet's done tonight," James explained, looking over at his best mate, "But honestly I didn't think it would go on this long. Turns out there aren't any rules in the dress code about who's allowed to wear skirts."

"I've grown rather fond of it," Sirius said with a wide grin, "If it wasn't so cold in this damn castle, I'd ask to keep it." He skipped a few paces ahead of the group and twirled to really show off the skirt. They all laughed and complimented Sirius, and he realized being himself didn't have to be a fight if he was in the right company.


	5. December 1976

December rolled in with nothing but snow. More snow than was fun to bewitch and roll around in. The classrooms were bitter cold and when there was no room near the fires in the common rooms, students began packing into the Great Hall, which seemed to always have a warming charm placed on it. Ravenclaw had just won their first match against Hufflepuff at the end of November and all anyone talked about for days was how Marlene had caught the snitch by diving off of her broom into a mound of snow as deep as she was tall. It felt as though she hadn't been able to get warm since.

Marlene and Remus began speaking again at the Slug Club's Christmas party when him and Lily chose to spend most of the evening with Marlene in a corner making up ridiculous conversations the other party goers could have been having. Lily surprised Marlene with the range of voices she could do when pretending to be various guests in conversation across the room. They had a particularly good laugh as they watched Professor Slughorn make a big show out of introducing Rodger to the famous Quidditch star, Maggie O'Shea, who Slughorn apparently did not know was Marlene and Rodger's aunt. Rodger and their Aunt Maggie acted as if they were so pleased to be meeting each other for the first time and Marlene laughed so hard that she couldn't even finish pretending to be her brother and bent over with tears in her eyes. Professor Slughorn looked so chuffed to be networking an up-and-coming Quidditch star with a current one that Rodger and Aunt Maggie obviously didn't have the heart to tell him the truth.

"I'm sorry I haven't been around much lately," Remus said, wiping tears from his own eyes. "I've taken on so many classes this year, and my mother's been ill, and Sirius is getting increasingly needy-"

"It's alright," Marlene responded holding up a hand to let Remus know he didn't need any excuses, she was just happy to be enjoying her time with him rather than overanalyzing every word and movement between them.

"How are all your classes going?" Lily asked, "Why are you taking so many anyway? You look exhausted."

"They're fine and frankly I'm always tired, so there isn't much of a difference. I just need as many options as possible- I mean I want a lot of options. For finding a job in the future."

"Surely you of all people won't have trouble finding a job, you're top of the class," Lily persisted.

"S'pose I'm just anxious," Remus said with a shrug, though his tone wasn't quite as casual.

"Marlene!" The three turned to see Rodger approaching with Maggie O'Shea. "Oh, Marlene. You absolutely must have the great honor of meeting the wonderful Maggie O'Shea, famous Irish International Quidditch World Cup Champion. Do show her the ring, Maggie," Rodger said in a terrifyingly good impression of Professor Slughorn. Aunt Maggie flashed her champion ring with a laugh then kissed Marlene on the cheek and introduced herself to Remus and Lily.

"Sorry, I don't quite follow Quidditch, I'm Muggle-born," Lily said apologetically shaking Maggie's hand. Lily always hated when there were guests at the Slug Club dinners that she didn't know, or who held no significance in her life.

"That's alright dear, me, their father, our sister, and our brothers are too," Maggie said gesturing to Rodger and Marlene. "Quidditch doesn't care about what kind of blood you have as long as you're willing to shed a little for the game." Maggie excused herself from the group and Lily turned to Marlene and Rodger in surprise.

"I didn't know your father was muggle-born!" she exclaimed.

"Well, it's not exactly something we openly discuss," said Rodger, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "A lot of people don't know because him and our aunts and uncles are so good at Quidditch, ya know, as if they've played their whole lives. We're just an athletic family, though, we have a non-magical uncle who's a pro footballer. Some people in the Ministry know, but they don't take too kindly to a Muggle-born being the head of a major department."

"Our mam is pureblood," Marlene added, "ancient lines that more or less reach back to Cliodna and the druids on one side and Sacred Twenty-Eight through our nan. It kind of adds to the illusion."

"Sacred Twenty-Eight?" Lily inquired.

"Em-" Marlene looked around awkwardly at Rodger and Remus, neither of which made an attempt at offering an explanation. Just then Dave, who had been talking with a member of the Wizengamot, sidled up with a whole platter of cheese. He held it out into the middle of the group as an offering.

"What's the craic?" asked Dave. "Saw you lot laughing your arses off."

"David, what is the Sacred Twenty-eight?" Lily pressed on.

Dave narrowed his eyes, "That's what you were having a laugh at?"

"No," Remus said awkwardly, "It just came up."

"Well Evans, the Sacred Twenty-eight is a terrible piece of literature set to pit wizards against each other," Dave said soberly. Lily didn't look satisfied by that answer, so Dave continued on for her sake. "It basically traced the lines of twenty-eight families back a few centuries claiming them to be the only true 'pureblood lines' in the UK as of our parents' generation."

"But it only accounts for Anglican-Christian wizarding families that have been living in the UK for that long," Marlene interjected.

"And it doesn't account for people with bloodlines associated with non-western wand magic like wizards and witches from Asia, India, Africa, or the indigenous Americas," Remus expounded.

"It also excluded some families that may not have muggles in their family, but have been known muggle sympathizers. I heard that was why the Potter's were left off," Rodger added.

"No, they were left off because Mr. Potter isn't white," Remus said. "They've been in England for generations, but it wasn't good enough for Cantankerus Nott."

"When the book was published, a lot of the families used it to justify their pureblood mania, it helped create the climate that allowed You-Know-Who to rise to power. Some of the families are so obsessed with blood purity they resort to marrying cousins," Dave continued. "Every wizard in the UK that claims 'pureblood' heritage is loosely related."

"Sirius's parents are second cousins," Remus said, "I think technically James and Sirius are cousins too, though a few times removed."

"That's mad," Lily said, a bit dumbfounded, "No wonder Sirius wanted out."

"Not all pureblood families are bad though," said Rodger, "Most of the Sacred Twenty-eight ended up in Slytherin because Slytherin cared about that sort of thing, but there's a Sacred Twenty-eight family in every house. The Prewett twins' sister married a Weasley. They were notoriously outspoken against publishing a genealogical list like that."

"It's ridiculous, nearly every wizarding family mixed with muggles before the Statute of Secrecy was put in place. It's tough out there for mixed blood wizards, though," Remus interjected, "You could have the brightest witch or wizard of the generation who was Muggle-born get passed up on a job for a complete imbecile that's pureblood."

"It just isn't fair," Lily said quietly, thinking of her own fate.

"No, it isn't," Remus, Dave, Rodger, and Marlene said, thinking of theirs.

* * *

Binns had dosed off at the end of class for the second class in a row. The previous week, Sirius had suggested they all just leave since the lesson would be over in fifteen minutes anyway. James and a good portion of the other students had agreed and collected their things and left. Peter and Remus stayed behind, along with a few Hufflepuffs that pointed out that they could either pass fifteen minutes in the hall waiting for their next class to start, or wait there in the History of Magic classroom doing whatever they pleased while Professor Binns slept. Remus stayed because of his debilitating fear of getting caught doing something wrong that he hadn't been able to shake, even after six years of being friends with James and Sirius. Peter stayed because he had taken too long to decide whether he should go with James and Sirius and potentially get caught, or just stay put. By the time those that chose to leave were gone and Peter decided he'd like to go with them, he lost the nerve to walk out all on his own. Peter wasn't like his friends. He hadn't figured out his own place in the world like James and Sirius who were outgoing and powerful, or Remus who was smart and talented. Peter always seemed to lag behind, having all his decisions made for him. This week, however, when Sirius stood up again and said, "Let's go," Pete was the first person to stand to leave with him. Remus merely perked up an eyebrow and said, "See you in Charms." The Hufflepuffs had been right, of course, because there was only so much fooling around you could do in the fifteen minutes before you were expected in your next lesson, and it took nearly ten minutes just to get up to Charms from History of Magic. So Sirius, James, Peter and the other Gryffindors stood around and waited for the previous class to vacate the Charms classroom.

James and Sirius started discussing who they thought would win the next house Quidditch match, Ravenclaw or Slytherin. If Slytherin lost, they'd be out of the running for the Quidditch House Cup since they had lost to Gryffindor in the previous match. Talk of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team turned to talk of Marlene McKinnon and how she had caught the snitch in the last match. It was all anyone had talked about for weeks and Peter was tired of it. It wasn't just the Quidditch match that he was tired of hearing about, it was Marlene in general. He didn't know what kind of spell she had cast on his friends, but ever since the train ride to Hogwarts he was seeing and hearing a lot more of Marlene McKinnon than in any of his previous years at Hogwarts. It was as if she had just blown up overnight, another Hogwarts sensation, like Sirius and James. Peter had hardly noticed her before last year, when she was one of the few students announced to have earned all O's on her O.W.L.'s. Now everyone knew she was one of the best Quidditch players in the school, and Peter had heard plenty of guys, not just his friends, discussing her in between classes. Just as Sirius brought up the skirt thing _again_ , the door to the Charms classroom opened and out came Marlene McKinnon and the other Ravenclaws in their year.

"James, Sirius! I'm glad I ran into ya," Marlene said excitedly pulling out of the flow of traffic exiting the classroom. "My parents throw a big Christmas party every year and they said Rodger and I can invite friends, so we wanted you guys to come." Pete was leaned up against the wall with his arms crossed, trying not to feel excluded.

"Of course Remus and Peter are invited too," Marlene said cheerfully as she started walking down the hallway backwards towards her next lesson, "I'll make sure Rodger gives you guys the details!" Pete rolled his eyes, he couldn't go anyway, he'd be away for Christmas, but a party at a professional Quidditch player's house did sound appealing. He was lost in thought, imagining what kind of famous witches and wizards would show up to the party and thought for a moment maybe cozying up to Marlene might be a good idea, when he was forcefully shoved out of his daydream.

"Hey!" Sirius shouted as Peter looked around to see who had shoved him.

"Unnecessary roughness, Crouch!" James growled, getting in the face of a scrawny fourth year Slytherin.

"Maybe your friend shouldn't be taking up so much space," the Slytherin sneered. Peter recognized the kid as the Seeker from the Slytherin Quidditch Team. Sirius and James were always complaining about the cheap tactics Crouch would use to distract or disable the Gryffindor seeker. Peter also knew that Crouch was usually surrounded by older and larger Slytherins that had, on more than one occasion, made Peter's life very difficult.

"What's the matter Pettigrew? Can't stand up for yourself?" Crouch spit and Sirius lunged for him, but was stopped by James placing a hand on his chest.

"Go to class, Crouch," James said in a low, threatening tone, the look on his face was dark. Peter was in panic mode, he didn't want Sirius and James to fight all his battles, as they had for the past five years, but they were in a crowded hallway with Flitwick just inside his classroom. Once again, Peter took too long to decide what he was going to do. Sirius reached out and put a hand on Peter's shoulder and nudged him to walk into the Charms room.

"Where's your skirt, Black?" Crouch smirked at Sirius over James's shoulder. James stood in a defensive position, though he sought to keep the peace. Crouch's eyes flitted to Sirius's hand on Pete's shoulder and snarled, "That fairy's the closest thing you'll ever get to a woman's touch, Pettigrew."

" _That's it!_ " Sirius shouted as James gladly stepped aside and let Sirius punch Crouch square in the mouth, knocking Crouch to the ground. Sirius often said his physical reflexes were quicker than his magical ones, and that a physical altercation always felt more satisfying. All the same, Peter reached into his pocket and grabbed his wand.

"Pretty pathetic to have two blood traitors take care of you all the time," Crouch said looking up at Peter with a strange gleam in his eye. His tongue darted out quickly and found the trickle of blood from his split lip.

Peter had never once gotten a spell right on the first try. That alone was discouraging enough to not learn any spells for himself, outside of their normal lessons. He understood why the first few spells they had learned at Hogwarts had come slowly, because he had never done any magic on purpose before- he had had very few instances of accidental magic, as well. Intention was everything when casting a spell, and it took Peter a while to understand and properly harness his intent. After the first few spells were conquered, he expected everything to come easier as it had for his friends and classmates, but it did not. Peter never got his intent quite right on his first try, and rarely on the second, or third, so Peter was just as surprised as the victim of the curse that anything had happened at all. Crouch howled in surprise, still on the floor, and dropped his wand, cradling his arm to his chest. He pushed his sleeve back to reveal a nasty red burn on his forearm, then looked up at Peter and laughed.

Everyone knows spells they would never use. They hear them spoken without the intention of casting, whispered in the hallways, passed down from older siblings, or from kids who have lived very different lives than the exceptionally normal one that Peter led. Kids know jinxes like they know bad words they're not supposed to say. Peter knew the stinging curse, but had never thought to cast it himself until right in that moment. After realizing what Peter had done, Crouch seemed to assess him with a strange look, but Flitwick showed up before any other moves could be made. Flitwick berated Crouch for picking fights in the hallway while Peter was shuffled into the classroom by James and Sirius, with the promise that Flitwick would deal with them after class.

"I can't believe you punched Barty Crouch!" James said, as he paced around his usual seat in Charms, clearly wound up, "His dad is the head of Magical Law Enforcement!"

"Yeah, well his dad should be more worried about what his kid is doing instead of what people are doing to his kid. Crouch is a little degenerate! He runs around with all those junior Death Eaters, and he's roped my brother into it!" Sirius shouted flexing and unflexing the hand he had punched Crouch with. Students were filtering into the classroom now and Peter still felt a bit stunned. The first spell he got right on the first try and it was cast with malicious intent.

"Wormtail, are you alright, mate?" Sirius asked as if he had only just remembered Peter was there, "That was a good stinging curse, Wormy!"

"Not as good as that punch," Peter said, offering Sirius a smile. James smiled weakly too.

"It was a good hit, both of you, but we're going to be in _so much trouble_ ," James said mournfully, "And right before Christmas holiday."

"You're in the clear Prongs, you didn't do anything," Sirius said, taking his seat and leaning back confidently in his chair. Peter sat beside him, in much lower spirits. Peter never felt he was good at anything in his life. Overshadowed by his friends who were notably gifted in Charms and Transfiguration, and quite fine in all their other courses as well, Peter did not celebrate his victory over Barty Crouch. What if the reason Peter didn't have any talents was because he simply hadn't found them yet. His stomach twisted at the thought of his only skill being harmful magic, but he was torn from this thought by the arrival of Remus and Evans.

"You lot couldn't stay out of trouble for _fifteen minutes_ without me?" Remus asked as he sat down next to James, just in time for Flitwick to begin his lesson. Peter tried to pay attention to the class, but the memory of the curse slipping from his lips burned away at him for the rest of the day, and days to come.

* * *

"Do you think Lily will be there?" James asked, anxiously adjusting his bow tie in the mirror. Sirius waved him over and straightened the tie and patted James's cheek to let him know it was fine. James knew ladies loved a man in dress robes, but Lily had proven time and time again that she wasn't as easy to impress as most girls. Perhaps the challenge was what made the reward more worthwhile to James.

"Marlene mentioned that Evans was staying with Alice over the holidays because Evans's sister's muggle fiancé was in town or something. Alice will be there, so Evans probably will too," Sirius responded.

"You seem well-informed, things going well with Marlene?" James asked casually as he turned to check his hair in the mirror once more. Even his father's Sleekeazy's Hair Potion couldn't tame his hair, which his father admitted was bad for sales. Mr. Potter often told customers that his son had a bit of a rebellious streak in him and preferred his hair messy. This was true most days, but James wanted to looks nice for the McKinnon's Christmas party, so he let his mother use a few charms on him that would hold the strands in place, at least for a few hours.

"Things aren't going with Marlene at all. I told you we're just friends," Sirius said tersely running his hands through his own hair. Sirius got a lot more use out of Mr. Potter's invention, but with or without Sleekeazy, Sirius had always had great hair.

"Just friends? Come on, Pads. You're never just friends with a girl. You're either snogging or you're with us."

"You know, James, I hate when you say that kind of stuff about me. Like I'm nothing but a shallow prick. Like Marlene isn't a cool, interesting person to hang out with, and that it's not okay for me to just be friends with her!" Sirius snapped. Now he was fidgeting with his own tie and James was concerned about the use of his full name.

"I'm sorry, Sirius. It's okay that you're just friends with her," James said with his hands up in surrender. Sirius was like a brother to James, he had always thought so, from the moment they first spoke on the train he had felt a kindred spirit in Sirius. James had been an only child, born late into his parents' lives. They were grateful they had had a child at all and thus James was heavily doted upon. Despite his parents' affection and attention, though, James desperately wished for a brother when he was younger. Even a friend his age before attending Hogwarts would have been a blessing, all the children of his parents' friends were grown. As a result James was perfectly comfortable around adults, and by the time he was old enough for Hogwarts, found children his own age rather boorish and annoying.

Sirius had been sat alone when James entered the train compartment. In crisp clothes that James knew firsthand were a product of wealth, Sirius was lounging confidently with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs up on the opposite seat. When James entered the compartment Sirius looked up and silently nodded in acknowledgment. James was so captivated by this very cool, seemingly older boy, that he was surprised when Sirius said, "First year at Hogwarts as well?" They slipped into easy conversation about Quidditch and expectations for school when they were joined in the compartment by a fetching ginger girl, who James would soon come to know as Lily, and her companion who did not show the same signs of care as James and Sirius, later to be known as Snape.

James had always wanted a brother, just like Sirius had always wanted someone to tell him he wasn't crazy for wanting to escape his abusive and misguided family. Sirius already had a brother and as years went on he didn't see much use for one, but in the Potter's, Sirius found that a family you make can be just as good, and certainly better, than the one you are born into. But something Sirius knew, that James did not, was that brothers fought. Sirius assumed it was because he had always been in opposition to his whole family, poisoned, his mother would say, by his radically liberal uncle. But it turns out brothers who choose each other can fight too. James, in his desperation to keep Sirius around, often found himself apologizing for things even when he knew he wasn't in the wrong, and Sirius, who was raised in a manipulative and toxic family, greedily accepted all of James's apologies without taking any blame for himself. The pressure from a poorly resolved small fight would build up into a much larger fight. In the end, and as both boys matured and made room for each other in their lives, the power struggle between the "spoiled brat" and "selfish git" became almost nonexistent. James adjusted to no longer being an only child and Sirius accepted that he didn't have to fight everyday to survive anymore. All that being said, however, James was getting pretty fed up with Sirius's recent outbursts, and if they didn't get to the root of the problem soon, James was going to have to let these little tiffs turn into a blow-out fight just to relieve the pressure.

"Let's go, Moony's waiting for us," Sirius said flatly, obviously still peeved at James. He briefly cupped the side of James's face before giving him a playful slap and running out of James's bedroom laughing. James wondered if all brothers were as frustrating as Sirius.

* * *

Sirius felt bad every time he had a row with James, especially since Mr. and Mrs. Potter were so kind as to open their home to him. He knew a little tiff wouldn't ruffle James too much, but they had been happening with more frequency. Being sixteen and having conflicting feelings about girls was apparently a major taboo, yet there was nothing wrong with being like James, head over heels with a girl he barely talked to. Now Remus, despite having bigger mood swings than Sirius himself, never fought with Sirius. He would scold him from time to time, but Sirius never fired back because he knew Remus was always right. At worst, Remus would give Sirius the silent treatment or ignore him, which Sirius would admit was very effective considering how much he liked attention, especially Remus's. They never really worked through what had happened the year before with Snape, all agreeing never to discuss it, and Sirius had only said the words 'sorry' under duress from James. Over the last few months the ice between Remus and Sirius had begun to thaw without Sirius having to do any real work to mend their relationship, and that suited him fine. The truth was Sirius _was sorry._ Sorry that he could be so careless to not think of the consequences for Remus. He had only wanted to scare Snape off their tails, but things really got away from him. Sirius was sorry he ever did anything that could end his friendship with Remus. 

Remus was the only one Sirius wanted to spend time with at the McKinnon's Christmas party, having really exhausted his time with James over the holidays. No talk of James's unrequited love, or Peter's latest misadventure, or silly teenage girls. That's what Sirius wanted more than anything right now. For as long as he had known Remus he had never said anything in either direction about a girl. He just always had something better to talk about. He once told Sirius he couldn't think about girls like the rest of them because of his furry little problem, so he simply didn't. It took Sirius until recently to realize that he didn't spend too much time thinking about girls either.

James wasn't far behind Sirius, descending the main staircase into the foyer of the Potter manor, when he let a long howl at the sight of Remus.

"Damn nice dress robes, Moony," James said as he met Sirius and Remus at the bottom of the stairs.

"Thanks! Couldn't afford my own, but I finally grew enough that I can fit in my dad's," Remus beamed. His family didn't have a lot of money and his condition put a strain on them financially, so seeing Remus in decent robes made Sirius pretty happy. Remus would never accept help from anyone and insisted that he was content his patchy cloaks, but Sirius knew Remus fussed over how he looked. He had caught him crying in the dormitory once after a full moon that left a permanent cursed scar on his right cheek. Sirius had comforted him and told him he looked badass. At the time he hadn't known where it came from, but a year later when him and James had figured it all out he became fonder of the scar and the moment he and Remus had shared.

Sirius's face split into a wicked grin as he threw floo powder into the roaring fire beside them, "Alright lads, let's have a good night!"

The McKinnon home wasn't overtly big or extravagant, but it was decked out in the most elegant Christmas Decorations Sirius had ever seen, although his only past experiences were Hogwarts, the Potter's, and his own home, which never had any decorations of any kind. There were a few recognizable Ministry members and former Quidditch players, and even a handful of his parents' friends that looked out of place at such a joyous function. The adults were all drunk on wine and the children were all wound up on sugar, but Rodger and Marlene were nowhere to be seen. James slapped Sirius lightly on the chest and pointed across the main hall to the Marvelous Mike McKinnon, who anyone a fan of Quidditch could recognize easily. Mike appeared to be telling Professor Slughorn a very engaging joke. When Slughorn finally threw his head back and laughed heartily, patted Mike on the shoulder and left, Sirius, James, and Remus took their opening.

"Mr. McKinnon, hi, we're friends of Rodger," James said extending a hand.

"Oh yes!" said Mike shaking James's hand enthusiastically, "Honey, these are those nice boys I was telling you about from the World Cup. This is Euphemia Potter's boy!" Hellen McKinnon looked like she could have been Marlene's older sister, not her mother, and the resemblance between them was absolutely uncanny except for the eyes. Sirius could see why Mike had been so mesmerized by Hellen's eyes, they absolutely were the color of a Quidditch pitch.

"So nice of you boys to make it!" she said with the same immediate warmth and sincerity that made it impossible to not like Rodger. "James, your mother was wondering when you'd get here, and oh you must be Sirius and Remus. Marlene and Rodger have told me so much about the both of you." She shook each of their hands and engaged them in a polite amount of small talk about school and Quidditch, asking how they had all become friends.

"Look at me wasting your time when you're obviously here to see Marlene and Rodger. Here take this plate of cookies upstairs, they're probably in the guest room with the others." Hellen handed Sirius a massive plate stacked with warm cookies of all different varieties. And pointed the boys in the direction of the stairs.

Sirius balanced the plate on one hand and plucked a gingerbread man off the top and effectively decapitated him while he lead the group up the stairs. He followed the sound of laughter to a room at the end of the hall and was greeted by the broad smiles of Rodger, Dave, Alice, Marlene, and Lily.

"Merlin, you finally made it!" Marlene said, jumping up and yanking each of the boys into a tight hug. More polite hello's were exchanged between them and Alice and Lily, and then Rodger and Dave stood to shake hands and clap each of the boys on the back.

"Are those Aunt Hellen's cookies?" Alice asked, suddenly looking a lot more lively.

"Mmm-" Sirius said choking down the rest of his cookie so that he could talk, "Your mum's an excellent baker."

"Sorry we're so late, James was having a bit of trouble with his hair," Remus said with a cheeky grin and a look at James's hair, which had already started to defy the charms.

"Finally," Lily said huffily and she reached behind her and brandished a large green glass bottle with a white and gold label.

"Did you know muggle alcohol doesn't have wards against refilling charms?" Dave asked with a smile that truly reached from ear to ear.

"Lily wouldn't let us refill it until you arrived," Alice said looking impatiently up at the boys.

"Evans?" James said his eyes going wide.

"Potter?" She responded with a bit of a challenge in her voice.

"How'd you get it?" Sirius asked excitedly after Rodger refilled the bottle. A decent amount bubbled up and poured heavily over the lip, which Dave was quick to clean with another spell. Rodger and Dave each drank from the bottle then passed it to Remus, who had sat himself on the floor so close to Sirius that their knees touched. Remus looked at Sirius and waggled his eyebrows before taking a swig of the muggle champagne then passed the bottle to Sirius who drank and passed it to Lily.

"It was a bribe from my older sister to not come home for winter holidays, so she could have her muggle fiancé meet our mum and dad."

"Do I sense a little rebel in you, Evans?" James asked raising an eyebrow as Lily sipped from the bottle.

"Just drink, Potter," Lily insisted, playfully shoving the bottle in his hands. "Happy Christmas!"


	6. January 1977

Remus felt his heart sink when the next Hogsmeade trip was posted. After ten years, Remus nearly had the moon phases memorized and could calculate them for the next ten years if you gave him enough time. Madame Pomfrey never let Remus so much as leave the castle the day of a full moon, as if she were afraid he'd try to brave it alone in the woods and take off into the night. What Madame Pomfrey didn't know was that he often would take off into the woods on the night of a full moon, but never alone.

"It's alright Moony, we're all quite bored of Hogsmeade after all these years. All the same shops and such, not much to miss," James said sitting on the edge of Remus's bed and patting his friend's leg. Remus could tell by James's sympathetic look that the oncoming full moon was taking a visible toll on Remus.

"Prongs is right. How many times can we all sit around the Three Broomsticks drinking butterbeer?" Sirius supplied, sitting on his own bed, across from Remus.

"Speak for yourselves," muttered Peter, but he didn't say anything further when he received a dangerous glare from both James and Sirius.

"Really, guys, it's the first trip to Hogsmeade after the winter holidays and I know you both haven't spent any of the money you got for Christmas. Go on without me, I'll just study and hang out with Poppy." All four boys grimaced at the thought of purposefully spending a day with the school's healer. Tough as she was, though, they liked Madam Pomfrey. She always chalked up any major injuries Peter, James, and Sirius sustained after a full moon to foolishness that only Remus could have prevented.

"We'll bring you back sweets from Honeydukes. Boat loads of chocolate!" Peter said cheerfully having taken his invitation to already head out the door.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" Sirius asked searching Remus's eyes for any hint that he was needed.

"Look, if you want to sit around all day and watch me sleep," Remus said stubbornly, not breaking eye contact with Sirius, who finally looked to James. James heaved a sigh and said, "Alright, we'll go and we'll see if Rosmerta can charm some butterbeer to stay warm to bring back for you." Begrudgingly, James rose from Remus's bed and tossed a Gryffindor scarf casually about his neck.

"Thanks Prongs," Remus said with finality. Sirius lingered a bit as if Remus might change his mind at the last minute, but when Remus crossed his arms and returned his gaze with silence, Sirius took the hint and followed James out the door.

The boys left the dormitory and Remus resolved to take a nap to avoid thinking about missing a trip to Hogsmeade, especially since his grandmother had sent him a bit of gold so he could get something for himself, specifically the "Harmless" Hexes to Pester Your Friends book he had his eye on at Zonko's. Lying in bed, however, Remus felt very awake. He rolled out of bed and did what every other sad sap that couldn't go to Hogsmeade did; he gathered his books and went to the library. He didn't even make it halfway there when he stopped by a window and looked out onto the melting snow. He could see a few stragglers making their way down the path that Hagrid had shoveled as a flurry of snowflakes blew off of a nearby tree branch. Remus was miserable and the crisp air blowing through the cracks in the window did nothing to ease his growing nausea. But suddenly it wasn't just nausea, Remus had reached the point of distinction where he knew, without a doubt, that he was going to actually vomit. He ducked into a nearby classroom and prayed there would be a garbage pale he could gracefully empty his stomach into. There was, and he did, and he said sadly with his face still half in the pale, "Scourgify," and the only remaining evidence of the incident were the tears running down his face.

"You know, it's not becoming of a young man to cry," a snooty voice behind Remus said. In fear he turned thinking he may see a professor, but was greeted by Nearly Headless Nick.

"No?" Remus responded angrily wiping the tears off his face. "What about a young werewolf on the day of a full moon?"

"Oh dear, Mr. Lupin, I did not realize it was you! Forgive me, there have been rumors amongst the ghosts about a werewolf at Hogwarts, I apologize," Nick said bowing low and grabbing his head at the last moment to keep it from flopping over.

"S'alright," Remus said wiping his nose on the sleeve of his jumper, "You won't tell the other ghosts will you? If people knew- I- They'd probably have me kicked out." Nearly Headless Nick floated closer to Remus and placed an icy cold hand somewhere just below the top of Remus's shoulder in what he assumed was a sign of comfort.

"My dear boy, I won't breath a word. On my honor!" Nick said raising his left hand up in the air with his right hand on his heart. "May I ask though, what you are doing without your rowdy band of brothers?"

"It's a Hogsmeade day and Madam Pomfrey won't let me out because of-" Remus's voice traveled off as he waved his hand vaguely towards the sky. "She told Filch to keep an eye out and everything."

"Well, there are other ways of getting into Hogsmeade other than past Filch," Nick said with a smirk, "Tell me boy, have you been acquainted with the one-eyed witch with the hump-back?"

* * *

"Oh my goodness!" Lily said with a start, nearly spilling butterbeer over the table. Alice and Marlene looked up at Lily expectantly and she continued, "Oh I've just remembered what I was supposed to do today! My father's birthday is next week, I have to get him a gift."

"But Lily we have to head back to the castle in twenty minutes," Alice said looking at the clock over the bar in the Three Broomsticks.

"Could you mail order him something from the Daily Prophet?" Marlene suggested.

Lily shook her head and said, "No, I saw this brilliant paperweight with moving constellations that are accurate to the date in Dervish and Banges. It'll only be a minute, I'll meet you back at the castle." Lily took one last swig of her butterbeer and headed out the door. Just as she was exiting the Three Broomsticks, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were entering and they were huddled so close, talking excitedly they didn't even see Lily as she left. She didn't entirely mind. Lily really didn't have time to do the weird sort of polite dance her and James had taken to since November. She couldn't deny that his growing interest in school, and wavering interest in playing pranks on the underclassmen was impressive to her. She also could not deny that he had looked infuriatingly handsome at the McKinnon's Christmas party and that they had all had quite a bit of fun drinking champagne and playing Exploding Snap and Truth or Dare all night. Fighting with James constantly was damn near exhausting and putting her pride aside and seeing him and the other Gryffindor boys as allies in the stormy climate of blood supremacy really only benefitted her. To think a year ago that she'd nearly consider James a friend now would've been preposterous to her, of course if someone told her the awful things that would transpire between her and Severus she wouldn't have believed them either.

Lily headed down the street towards Dervish and Banges with her head down and the hood of her cloak up when she heard an oily voice she knew all too well.

"Narcissa, please don't cause a scene," Lily heard Severus say in a very bored tone. Considering she and Severus hadn't spoken since earlier in the semester when he had tried to reconcile the whole 'Mudblood' incident, Lily didn't know what stopped her, perhaps it was the fact that Narcissa Black, a very composed and proper seventh year, was sobbing in the alleyway at Severus's feet. Lily quickly backtracked and stood just out of sight at the end of the alley.

"Don't you dare stand up for him, Snape. He treats you like rubbish too!"

"Narcissa, keep your voice down." In response Narcissa let out a decent wail of anguish that ended in a frustrated roar. "He is your fiancé," Severus continued in an ever more controlled tone. Lily knew that tone, he was getting frustrated, if Narcissa pushed him more he would snap.

"'No wife of mine will be tied to blood traitors!'" Narcissa said in a deep voice, probably imitating the man Lily knew Narcissa was engaged to, Lucius Malfoy. "Severus, she's my sister," Narcissa now pleaded.

"She ran off with a mudblood," there was that awful word rolling off his tongue so casually now. "Lucius knows that will look bad for him and You-Know-Who. Narcissa I really can't help you when you're carrying on like this, it is extremely unattractive." Lily could hear the sneer in his voice and wondered how often he spoke with it now, as if he were so above everyone else. She heard footsteps and she knew he was coming back onto the street. Lily hurried two stores down and pretended to be very fascinated with the potion bottles in the window. She was grateful that that was a believable cover.

"Lily?" Severus said gently on his approach. Lily's heart was racing as she turned and looked at him with a carefully neutral expression, but said nothing, and he took the hint to keep walking. Lily breathed a sigh of relief when he passed her and tried to calm down the nerves that had sent her heart pounding at Severus's mention of You-Know-Who and then the subsequent fear of getting caught eavesdropping.

Lily still had to pass the alleyway to get to Dervish and Banges and couldn't help but look down the way to see if Narcissa was alright. She wasn't. Narcissa Black was curled up between two rubbish bins sobbing heavily into her arms. Lily simply couldn't keep walking without doing something even though she knew there was a chance the interaction wouldn't end well.

"Erm, hello," Lily said hesitantly as she stood at the end of the alley. Narcissa looked up and there were dark streaks down her usually pale cheeks. Her face was terribly blotchy and her nose was visibly runny, until then Lily had never seen Narcissa with so much as a hair out of place.

"Oh, great, come to mock me Evans?" Narcissa said miserably, her voice cracking. She came from one of those terribly wealthy pureblood families that looked down their noses at anyone who didn't have the same stringent views as them. Narcissa's oldest sister, Bellatrix, had been an absolute terror at the school before graduating a few years ago. Bellatrix was known to torture younger students, especially muggleborns, which Lily had somehow thankfully avoided. Their other sister, Andromeda, kept to herself and never had a bad word said about her besides complaints about her family in general. Lily had to imagine it was Andromeda that Narcissa and Severus had been arguing about, because there wasn't a chance in hell that Bellatrix would "run off with a mudblood."

Narcissa was part of a serious pack of degenerate students in Slytherin house, a group which, before finishing Hogwarts, Bellatrix and Lucius Malfoy had been the leaders of. They were the ones who always harassed Lily and gave her a hard time when she excelled in classes more than them. Narcissa always seemed above it all, with her nose turned up, she never took part, but she never stopped it either.

"Have you had another row with Malfoy?" Lily asked carefully, as she approached Narcissa.

"Another?" Narcissa's narrowed her eyes then rolled them with a sigh as if she had nothing left to lose. "Yes," she said, "I've had another row with Lucius. He wants me to cut off ties from my sister because she married a muggle-born. Mother's already cut her out of the will and my other sister- gods if she finds her- she'll kill her. I mean really kill her." Narcissa started crying again, making awful sounds as she tried to catch her breath and stop herself.

"Do you have a sister, Evans?" Narcissa asked after calming down a little and looking at Lily, really looking.

"I do."

"And do you get along?"

"No, I'm afraid we don't. She thinks I'm strange, that this whole magic thing is a tarnish on the family." Narcissa laughed at the irony of the situation.

"Would you do anything for her despite that?"

"I would," Lily answered honestly. She still loved Petunia very much, despite how much she pushed Lily away.

Narcissa nodded somberly, "I would do anything for my family, destroy the world if it meant they'd be safe, but Lucius doesn't understand that. His only loyalty is to himself, not even to me." Narcissa wasn't crying anymore, she looked angry, she looked dangerous, if only for a moment and then she instantly withered. "It's not safe, we have our sides and we have to hope we're right. I'm not brave, I can't do anything for my sister and her mudblood husband." Narcissa quickly looked up at Lily and said, "I'm sorry. You say the word in the comfort of your friends so often you forget that it's uncouth." And just like that, Narcissa rose and rolled her shoulders back, lifting her chin just a bit. She fixed her makeup and looked Lily dead in the eye, "We've had a brief understanding in a time where I showed uncharacteristic vulnerability. We are not friends, do not breathe a word of this to anyone." Narcissa got nearly all the way to the end of the alley before she turned and spoke in a rushed voice, "I see why Severus is enamored with you, but your bleeding heart will get you killed in times like these." And with that Narcissa Black was gone.

* * *

"There are seven in total if you include the one under the Whomping Willow!" Remus whispered excitedly pointing to parts of the map. "Nearly Headless Nick reckons Filch knows about this one," he continued pointing to a path off a fifth floor corridor, "The rest, he said, should be good to use. The one on the third floor that I took into Honeydukes took ages, though, I'm wondering if any of the others are more direct."

"Moony this is a game-changer!" Sirius said, unable to contain himself he planted a big wet kiss on Remus's cheek, which turned bright red immediately after, but Remus did not wipe away Sirius's mark.

"The label for the Room of Requirement has disappeared again," Peter said dully dropping a finger on the map.

"Ruddy thing," James said under his breath as he brandished his wand, "We know where you are!" he yelled in frustration before saying the incantation to put the general location of the Room of Requirement back on the map.

"What's up with you, mate? You've been weird since holidays ended," Sirius said looking at Peter who didn't seem the least bit excited about mapping out Remus's new discovery.

"S'nothing," Peter said huffily, "Surprised you even noticed me, s'pose it's cause Evans and the McKinnon's aren't around." Before Sirius could ask him what he was on about, Lily, Marlene, and Alice walked up to the table and sat beside Remus.

"Oooo is that the infamous 'Marauder's Map'?" Alice asked peering over Remus's shoulder just before James vanished the images on the parchment.

"Marauder's Map?" Marlene repeated inquisitively.

"Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs have created a most bewitching instrument to aid in varying degrees of tomfoolery and high jinx," Sirius said puffing out his chest proudly.

"That's you four, though, isn't it? You use those stupid nicknames all the time," Marlene said looking at the boys wondering if they could really be that full of themselves.

"They're not stupid nicknames!" James said, obviously wounded, "And we've put a lot of hard work into this thing; it deserves a little respect." However, the parchment still lay blank on the table and James didn't seem to realize it was hard to admire something you couldn't see.

"Come on Potter, I've shared with you, why can't you share with me?" Lily asked, supplying a forced pout.

"It's a work in progress, love, and it's too powerful for your mortal eyes!" Sirius said waving the now blank parchment in the girls' faces.

"How'd you fancy a stroll in Hogsmeade whenever you'd like, Evans?" James said leaning closer and raising an eyebrow, "the map could take us there."

"Would I have to go with you?" Lily asked innocently.

"Of course!" James said happily.

"Then I'll pass," Lily said flatly, but the corners of her mouth perked up slightly and gave her away. Marlene and Alice snickered.

"Fine! I didn't want to show you my life's work anyway," James said sadly folding up the map.

"Hold on, Potter, are you serious? Is there a secret way out of the castle?" Lily said, no longer joking around.

"There might be several," Remus said in a tone that tried to be casual, but he was still brimming with excitement.

"I hate admitting it, but you lot really are rather clever," Lily said earnestly.

"Well, Pete wasn't much help," Sirius joked, looking over his shoulder, expecting an insult in return from his friend, but Peter was gone.

"He didn't even stay for breakfast," James remarked, "That's not like him."

Breakfast appeared and Marlene took this as a cue to head back to her own house table. After breakfast came the post. There was nothing special for Marlene, but there was however a copy of the Daily Prophet she hadn't ordered. She unrolled the newspaper and was greeted by a photograph of her father, all his siblings, Aela, Aela's brothers, and a few of her other cousins. Based on what everyone was wearing it looked like the photograph had been taken at their most recent Christmas party. Marlene's family were all waving and smiling, but their smiles seemed forced and it wasn't until Marlene's father pointed up at the headline above them that she actually read it.

**_Muggle-born Quidditch Prodigies Bamboozle Great Britain_ **

Marlene looked up briefly to see that many students were reading the same article. She scanned the first and last paragraphs of the story as they were always the most important and read a few of the bolded quotes. Her stomach turned. The gist of the article was that there was some kind of foul play involved with the "McKinnon Quidditch Dynasty." There was no way that muggle-borns could be that good at a completely foreign wizard sport without the help of-

" _Felix Felices_?" Marlene shouted, but continued to read on silently when she noticed all the wide eyes at the neighboring tables that turned on her. All the quotes were from purebloods that worked at the Ministry, the same men that would've liked her father's job to go to someone with a better bloodline.

"Marlene, Rita Skeeter's a hag. She was such an awful gossip when she was still at Hogwarts, besides this is her first byline. No one is going to read it," Edgar Bones, a seventh year and Marlene's Quidditch captain, said to her as he folded his own copy of the Daily Prophet and laid it on the table.

"It's the front page story, Edgar," Marlene said feeling the blood drain from her face, "They just targeted my family as very important muggle-borns. Do you know what kind of people work at the Ministry?" Marlene and Edgar looked over their shoulders at the Slytherin table and nearly every one of them was staring back at them. They turned quickly back around.

"Now, Marlene, I'm not going to pretend like we didn't just see them all staring at you just to make you feel better," Edgar started slowly, "But maybe you should go over and sit with your brother and just know that if you need me for anything, I have your back, and I'm sure Celeste will too."

Marlene rose from her seat and made sure not to look back at the Slytherin table. She knew what they did to people like Lily, and standing up for Lily was easy, but she wasn't sure she was ready to stand up for herself. She walked over to the Gryffindor table hoping to appear completely calm, but felt her heart jolt when she arrived at the table to find that none of her friends or family were still seated there. She decided to head to the owlery to send a letter to her parents just to check in.

* * *

Rodger took the stairs two at a time on his way to the fourth floor corridor. At the base of the west tower, he nearly collided with Alice, whose eyes were red and puffy. Rodger knew better than to ask if Alice had been crying. She clearly had, and often did, but Alice never liked in when he and Marlene pointed it out.

"Just thought I'd write to Mam- make sure everything's alright," she said holding up a letter for Rodger to see.

"I had the same thought," Rodger replied quietly, while gesturing to his cousin to head up the staircase ahead of him. They were careful on their way up to the owlery as the stairs were almost always covered in ice this time of year, and did not speak the entire way up.

When they arrived at the top of the stairs, Alice's old barred owl swooped down and rested on her outstretched arm, nipping affectionately at the sleeve of her robes. Rodger searched the rafters for the horned owl he and Marlene shared, and whistled a specific call to get its attention. Jupiter, their owl, awoke and dropped down from above to land on a perch beside Rodger. He stuck out his little foot and allowed Rodger to slip a roll of parchment into the leather strap he had tied around his ankle and immediately took off through the nearest window, as if he had sensed his owner's urgency. Alice fed her owl a strip of bacon from breakfast and scratched his head, when they heard the door to the owlery open.

"Let's go, Alice," Rodger said, realizing he was a little on edge and not keen on staying in any one place for too long, especially one as isolated as the west tower.

Marlene stepped into the open room carefully avoiding fresh droppings, bones, and owl pellets and jumped at the sight of Rodger and Alice standing just out of the light of one of the windows. Rodger stepped forward and Marlene's face flooded with recognition and relief. She put a hand over her heart and sighed heavily.

"Rodger, you scared me!"

"You're so jumpy," Rodger said, "If you're looking for Jupiter, I just sent him off with a letter to Mam and Dad."

"That's what I came up here to do," Marlene said, a little disappointed she was too late.

"You can send your letter with mine if you'd like," Alice offered.

"No, it's alright, I'm sure Rodger's letter will do. I just wanted to check in about the Daily Prophet article, I'm a bit worried is all." There was a long, heavy pause between the three cousins.

"I'm sure it'll all be fine," Rodger said quietly, knowing he didn't sound all that convincing. He suddenly felt compelled to reach out to his sister and cousin. He hesitated, but sort of twitched his arms out in their direction just as Marlene dove towards him and wrapped her arms tight around his ribs, her face pressed hard into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around his sister's back and squeezed, rocking her back and forth slightly.

"I feel like she just put a target on our backs," Alice mumbled somewhere off to the side. Rodger released the death grip he had on his own wrist to hold Marlene tight to him, and waved Alice into the embrace. He held his sister and cousin and heard them both sniffle into his shoulders, as he tried not to let the fear sink in that Alice was probably right.


	7. February 1977

Marlene awoke to a loud rapping on her dormitory door. She was never quick to rise, so one of the other girls who had already been getting ready for class opened the door. She barely pulled it open an inch before it shot open and Celeste Corner, one of Marlene's friends in seventh year, came bounding across the dormitory. She grabbed Marlene by the front of her pajamas and hoisted her into a sitting position. Celeste pressed her forehead against Marlene's and stared into Marlene's eyes. Celeste's usually bright hazel eyes looked glassy and wide and bloodshot.

" _Where is your brother_?" she demanded.

"W-w-what?" Marlene stammered, she still wasn't quite awake.

"Oh Merlin, it's happening again!" Artemis MacAlary exclaimed, crossing the room and sitting on Marlene's bed, she stared at Celeste intently.

"YOUR BROTHER!" Celeste bellowed.

"It's early Celeste, he's probably still sleeping in his dorm," Marlene said calmly as she realized what was wrong with her friend. She shook Celeste off and pushed her into a sitting position across from her on the bed.

"What have you _Seen_ , Celeste?" Artemis asked excitedly, but her face dropped because Celeste had pressed her hands to her face and started to cry. "Oh, dear," said Artemis giving Marlene a very sympathetic look. Marlene didn't need this kind of wake up call after the past few weeks she had been having. Things were not going well for her, Roger, and Alice. Very few people had known their parents were muggle-borns and all sorts of bad reactions were coming up from the revealing article that had been in the Prophet less than a month earlier. One of the professional Quidditch teams that had been very interested in Rodger had retracted their offers and a rubbish bin had been found set on fire in an empty classroom and when Professor Dearborn, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, had doused the fire he had found that a vintage Mike McKinnon Kestrels jersey had been the fuel. Whispers of 'mudblood' followed Marlene through the halls, while more Slytherins bumped shoulders with her aggressively on her way to class. Her and Alice had never felt closer to Lily than now.

"Celeste?" Marlene said tentatively as she reached out to touch Celeste's shoulder. She seemed startled by the touch and looked up at Marlene and Artemis, then around the dormitory, then down at her hands that were wet with her tears.

"What did I say? I can't remember," Celeste spoke flatly. Her eyes were clear now and she spoke quietly. The other girls in the dorm looked disgruntled, especially the ones that hadn't been awake when Celeste had stormed in.

"You asked me where Rodger was," Marlene supplied.

"You seemed very upset, you were very demanding," Artemis recounted.

"You were yelling, Corner!" Anna Smith shouted from behind her drawn sky blue bed curtains.

"Merlin, my heart is pounding. I-I'm sorry I can't remember, but it must've been bad," Celeste said, putting a hand over her heart.

"But not all your visions come true, right?" Artemis asked, still obviously enthralled by the whole matter.

"Erm- no, and I'm not great at half the popular methods of divination, but perhaps if I do a tarot spread," she trailed off. Celeste was in N.E.W.T. level Divination, which was not a heavily populated class as most people were not gifted with "The Sight." She wasn't particularly fond of having "The Sight" because a lot of people often dismissed Divination entirely. Marlene found it was perfectly logical that some people were truly Gifted as there was an entire hall of prophecies stored away in the under-belly of the Ministry of Magic, many of which came to fruition. The trouble that Celeste found was that free will played a heavy roll in predictions, and often visions that she had would never happen, simply because she had warned the person. A lot of times she wouldn't fully wake up from her dreams while she was spewing predictions and forget them entirely unless someone had heard what she said. She felt that all these forgotten predictions were the cause of her frequent and prolonged deja vu.

Celeste apologized to the room and then several more times to Marlene specifically and said something about finding Professor Skopein, the wizened Divination teacher. She was halfway out the door when she said, "Oh! I've just remembered." Marlene looked up hopefully, but Celeste just handed her a folded up bit of parchment and left. Anna Smith slammed the dormitory door behind Celeste and said to Marlene, "You know she just does that for attention, right?"

Marlene wasn't so sure about that because she knew the kind of strife the Sight caused Celeste. There were also several innocuous things over the course of their friendship that Celeste simply knew without being told, which made Marlene very curious about what Celeste had handed her. Scrawled across the parchment was the note:

_Marlene McKinnon-_

_Your presence is requested on the seventh floor corridor at 8 pm Wednesday evening for a most important engagement. Meet at the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy._

_\- Edgar Bones_

Confused, but curious, Marlene headed down to breakfast to see if she could glean more information from Edgar, or at the very least make sure her brother was okay.

"You would not believe the morning I've had," Marlene said as she reached over her brother's shoulder to grab a scone from his plate. "I am so happy to see you," she said wrapping one arm around Rodger's neck, while she used her free arm to put the scone in her mouth.

"You looked like you'd seen a ghost when you stumbled in here," Dave said with concern. Dave scooted down the bench enough to free up space for Marlene to sit between them. She told them about her abrupt start to the day and the three of them turned to see Celeste over at the Ravenclaw table who seemed to be telling her boyfriend, Edgar the same story. Edgar looked back at them with a grave expression and then mouthed to Marlene, "Get my note?" and mimed writing a note to make sure his question was clear. She nodded and turned back around and whispered to Dave and Rodger, "Edgar wants me to meet him by the Room of Requirement Wednesday night, can't imagine why."

"Wednesday night?" Remus piped up from a little ways down the table. Sirius and James's attentions were caught too. Moira nodded, though she wasn't sure she wanted half of Gryffindor to know in case it had something to do with Quidditch.

"Gideon and Fabian Prewett asked us to meet by the tapestry of the old git trying to teach trolls ballet Wednesday night," Sirius said with an odd look on his face as he gestured to himself, Remus, and James.

"Didn't invite Pete, but we told them wherever we go, he does too, though he's not here now- you get my point. Anyway, Gideon wasn't happy about it, but he agreed. 'Course we don't know what we're dragging Petey into, but they made it sound important," James said.

"That's weird 'cause me and Dave got a similar invitation from Professor Dearborn yesterday after class. Same thing, kind of vague, but he made it sound crucial that we show up," Rodger said looking round at his friends.

"Well I don't _distrust_ any of those people," Marlene said with hesitation clear in her voice.

"Morning, everyone," Alice said cheerfully as she approached the table. Her and Lily took the open space across from Dave and Marlene.

"Er, are you girls doing anything Wednesday night?" asked James cautiously.

"Sorry, Potter. I can't take a moonlit stroll with you or join you on the astronomy tower or whatever it is that you want to do, we have plans," Lily said with a smirk like she was in on something real juicy.

" _Yeah_ ," said Remus with great deliberation, hoping Lily would figure it out while everyone in the group stared at her and Alice. " _We do too_ ," he said gesturing to everyone.

* * *

Alice left the Great Hall right after dinner and headed up to the seventh floor with Marlene, Lily, Rodger, and Dave. A strange crowd was gathered in the corridor in front of the tapestry with the dancing trolls where Fabian had told her to go. There was a fair mix of Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws all from sixth and seventh year, Slytherin students were noticeably absent. Alice scanned the crowd for anyone else she may recognize in hopes that someone could shine some light on the situation, which was when she saw a Hufflepuff seventh year, Frank Longbottom, standing a head above the crowd. Alice waved at her little group to follow her over to Frank. Frank knew everything going on at Hogwarts. He wasn't a gossip necessarily, but Alice had done many prefect patrols with him over the years and he always had something interesting to share. 

"Frank, my man," Dave said enthusiastically shaking Frank's hand. "Frank's in my Wizard Law class. Damn good debater," Dave explained.

"But I have never seen someone so passionate about the rights of mixed-blood wizards! This guy is going to completely change the way we treat werewolves," Frank said heartily. Frank was handsome and charismatic and Alice suspected he knew everyone's business simply because everyone felt instantly comfortable around him. Frank always talked to people like there was no one else he'd rather be speaking with in that moment, which Alice knew from experience made you want to talk with him until the sun came up. Alice looked around the crowd and noted that nearly everyone in the corridor was either a prefect or the head of a noteworthy club or organization at the school. From classes she had with the other seventh years, she knew that most of the people waiting in the corridor were extremely capable, intelligent, and skilled. Had Peter Pettigrew not been lurking in the back, she would have branded this group as Hogwart's finest. Alice's curiosity as to what they were all doing here peaked considerably at this revelation. The bricks in the wall in front of the students began to shift with a soft and somewhat pleasant grinding sound that reminded Alice of the entrance to Diagon Alley behind the Leaky Cauldron. It was rare that wizards with access to the Floo network would enter through the dingy pub, especially wizards as recognizable as "Reckless" Reagan McKinnon (-Fortescue), but Alice's mother knew how much Alice always loved going that way, and Alice knew her mother secretly liked it too because that was her first real introduction to the wizarding world that her mother had had as a little girl.

The excited murmur died down and a large oak door appeared. No sooner had it appeared than it opened and Professor Dearborn stood on the threshold with a wide and stunning grin on his face. Alice remembered Caradoc Dearborn from when she was a third year, he had been Head Boy and a favorite amongst the girls, and some boys, of Hogwarts. Many upperclassmen often mentioned how odd it was to have a professor they had been in school with, but none of the younger students ever knew him, and he was well-liked and talented so it didn't matter much. Alice's father, who was on the Hogwarts board of directors, said that Dearborn had been the only one available on such short notice when Professor Cache, who had been teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts since her parents attended Hogwarts, mysteriously went missing a week before term. There were all sorts of rumors, some saying Cache had been killed by You-Know-Who and others saying he had left to join You-Know-Who. Dearborn was bright, engaging, and a firm believer in hands-on learning, a stark contrast to his predecessor who did everything by the book, literally. Cache never lectured, only directed the students to chapters to read and essays to write. Though Marlene preferred Dearborn, in more ways than one, she wouldn't say it out loud because the circumstances of their former professor's fate was so tragic she felt it was like speaking ill of the dead at their own funeral.

"Welcome!" Dearborn said excitedly, "As a warning, only those personally invited tonight will be able to cross the threshold, if there is anyone that shouldn't be here, now is your time to make a discreet exit." No one in the hall moved. "No? Alright, come on in." The students filed in one by one to find that the room was filled with an assortment of odd chairs. In the front of the room sat Gideon Prewett, Head Boy from Gryffindor, Edgar Bones from Ravenclaw, and a very pleasant looking Hufflepuff, whose name Alice couldn't remember despite having several classes with her over the years.

"Take a seat everyone," Professor Dearborn called out as he shepherded in the last of the students. There were many looks of confusion and a few people hesitating to do anything but stand just inside the doorway. Dearborn waved at them and pointed out empty seats scattered throughout the room.

"Hello, yes, can everyone hear me?" Dearborn asked standing between the group of students and the three singled out seventh years at the front of the room. There were various nods and affirmations and Dearborn took that as a cue to continue.

"Alright, I'm sure you're all wondering what you are doing here, but first I would like a few introductions to be made. We'll move through the room and I will go last. I want your name, your house, your year, and what you intend to do after Hogwarts, if you know." There were a few groans and "Come on's" in the room, but they went ignored by Dearborn.

"Gideon, will you-" Gideon Prewett stood without letting Dearborn finish.

"I'm Gideon Prewett," he paused as his twin brother Fabian gave a hearty hoot from the back of the room, "I'm Head Boy, Seventh Year, from Gryffindor, and I am training to become an Auror with my brother, Fabien-" another hoot from the back, "-when I leave Hogwarts."

"Edgar Bones, seventh year, Ravenclaw. I plan to be a curse breaker and jinx detector when I graduate."

"Emmeline Vance, seventh year, Hufflepuff, Defense, Security, and Law Enforcement," said the Hufflepuff at the front, and Alice repeated her name over and over in her head in hopes that it would stick. Emmeline had posture that made her appear as though she had a rod strapped to her back. She held her head high and looked out on the other students in a way that felt very authoritative, but there was a very genuine smile plastered on her face. She seemed pretty tough for a Hufflepuff, but her career choice probably suited her. There was a long pause when the students in the crowd weren't sure where to start when finally Rodger stood and introduced himself.

"Er, Rodger McKinnon, seventh year, Gryffindor. I'm going to be playing professional Quidditch once I leave." Dearborn nodded approvingly and indicated that Dave could stand and take his turn.

"Dave Davies, seventh year, Gryffindor, Magical Law with a focus on Civil Rights of Non-wizard Creatures."

"Marlene McKinnon, sixth year, Ravenclaw- erm- professional racing or Magical Games and Sports Commissioner."

"Alice Fortescue, seventh year, Gryffindor," Alice looked around at her cousins, whose futures had been set in stone for years, and she looked at her fellow Gryffindors who had been discussing their plans for their careers since fifth year when they were preparing for their O.W.L.S. She still hadn't figured out what she wanted to do. She wasn't naturally gifted in sports like the other members of her family, she didn't have an overwhelming call to action like Dave or Lily, and she still hadn't found anything she was specifically good at. Alice had applied to the auror program simply because Professor McGonagall had said she was more than qualified, but she hesitated, searching for something decent to say, though nothing felt right, so she simply said, "Undecided."

"Remus Lupin, sixth year, Gryffindor, also undecided," Remus said with a sheepish look at Alice before quickly sitting back down. She was relieved to know she wasn't the only one still figuring things out.

"Peter Pettigrew, sixth year, Gryffindor, also undecided."

"James Potter, sixth year, Gryffindor, Auror."

"Sirius Black, sixth year, Gryffindor, Auror."

"Frank Longbottom, seventh year, Hufflepuff, Auror."

"Sorry to break the pattern," Lily said standing up with a small grin, "Lily Evans, sixth year, Gryffindor, Healer." A few people chuckled and they continued through the room. There was a definite pattern in the career choices and study focuses of the students around Alice and she felt rather shallow for not coming up with something that was beneficial to Wizard-kind or just saying she wanted to be an Auror. Finally they had all finished and Professor Dearborn once again stood in front of the room.

"As you all know, I am Caradoc Dearborn, your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I was in Ravenclaw and was Head Boy before I graduated four years ago. In the time between attending Hogwarts and teaching at Hogwarts I travelled the globe researching the Dark Arts and cursed objects and being an informant on the works of You-Know-Who for the Ministry of Magic. In that time I became very close friends with Headmaster Dumbledore. We've spent a lot of time discussing the future and how it's a shame that the students of Hogwarts haven't had a sufficient Defense Against the Dark Arts education in several years. You-Know-Who is growing more powerful each day and his followers are growing, and expanding. We fear you have not been properly prepared to enter out into this world, especially with so many of you wanting to be Aurors." There was a dense silence that filled the room as everyone tried to piece together the meaning of what Dearborn was saying.

"So why are we hear?" Fabian shouted from the back.

"You are here because you were hand-picked by myself, Dumbledore, and these students behind me." Gideon looked proudly over at the cluster of Gryffindors. "We need all the help we can get out there and you are all of age, or nearly of age, with intense prowess, talent, and knowledge of magic. Dumbledore and I would like to give you the opportunity to prepare yourselves for what's to come," Professor Dearborn finished solemnly. He then proceeded to make deep eye contact with everyone in the room. Some people looked down, some people stared back, but someone to Alice's left said, "This is mad! We're just kids, who are we to stand up to You-Know-Who?" There were murmurs of agreement.

"I'm glad you said that," Dearborn said calmly, "If there is anyone here that is not absolutely, without a doubt, willing to fight against You-Know-Who with every fiber of their being, please leave now. I mean it! This will not be easy and you're about to learn some horrible truths. Everyone in here can probably think of countless reasons to leave, and if those reasons outweigh reasons to stay do not be ashamed to walk away. This is a dangerous time and we need pure and determined loyalty. Anyone who leaves may not speak of what has transpired here." There was once again a heavy silence. And then the student who had spoken up, a seventh year Ravenclaw, stood and left. Edgar Bones looked terribly disappointed. Eventually about a quarter of the group took up the courage to leave which left all those determined enough to stay. Alice was surprised when Dave stood up to be the last one to leave. Rodger and Marlene looked up with sad betrayal on their faces, but he gave them a reassuring glance before turning to Dearborn.

"I'm sorry, Professor. I really appreciate that you included me- I feel honored- but Magical Law is extremely time consuming and I need to get an apprenticeship. I want to be a part of this cause, but I think I am better suited to aid the cause in court, and by improving the laws and regulations. If you ever need my help, I will always be on your side, I just can't commit the time," Dave said very sincerely. He looked at his friends once more with an apologetic look, but they all understood and after Dearborn thanked him and said that Dave was always welcome to change his mind, Dave left the Room of Requirement. Peter had made to stand up at some point, but James and Sirius immediately yanked him back down in his seat. In the end all that were left were the Prewett's, Alice and the McKinnon's, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily, Frank, Edgar, Celeste, a Hufflepuff named Benjy, and Professor Dearborn.

"Anyone else?" Dearborn said looking at who was left. James and Sirius both put their hands on top of Peter's arms in case he made another move to leave, but he didn't.

"Fantastic! Is this a good time for everyone? We'll need to meet a few times a week to really get anything done and Dumbledore wants to meet with you all before we move ahead." They all agreed to meet at the same place and time the following week and had to hurry back to their houses as curfew was fast approaching.

* * *

It was strange being in The Order of Phoenix, or at least that's what James would be a part of when he was officially of age in the spring. It was like Dumbledore's own little army to fight off You-Know-Who- no, Dumbledore told them they mustn't be afraid to use his name, that it only gave him, Voldemort, more power. James was getting more used to saying 'Voldemort' in his thoughts, but saying it out loud was far more difficult than he could have imagined, especially when the first time he had let it slip was in the middle of Professor Dearborn's class and half of his classmates had tangibly cringed. Dumbledore had recruited a number of great wizards outside of Hogwarts with far more experience than the students studying with Dearborn all week, and to Dumbledore's credit was able to get a handful of them to make appearances at the meetings. It was really interesting for James to meet these skilled Aurors as well as everyday wizards who felt strongly enough about the cause to play an active role in it. James felt a strong connection to all these people through their shared passion for creating a better future for the wizarding world. Professor Dearborn, Dumbledore, and all of the official members of the Order didn't tip toe around issues or the dangers of what was to come. They were honest and informative and didn't hold back from the worst details. James was grateful for every opportunity the meetings lent him, but he was also very aware of the fact that these meetings were bringing him and Lily closer together. In a brief moment that was very uncharacteristic of Lily, she had grabbed James's hand while one of Dumbledore's oldest friends, Elphias Doge, told the group about the worst thing he had ever seen a Death Eater do to a muggle. James himself had been frozen with fear as Elphias Doge spoke, and it took a lot of effort just to squeeze her hand back.

Thanks to Sirius's unlikely friendship with Marlene McKinnon, Lily went from begrudgingly tolerating James when they were all together to purposefully engaging him in conversation. He felt Marlene was becoming his own friend, and by simple exposure, Lily seemed to be warming up to the idea of being friends with James and Sirius as well. Instead of the awkward silence that would fall between James and Lily when they were left alone, Lily was genial and even chatty, which had surprised him. There were plenty of things about Lily that surprised James the more he got to know her, and to his dismay those things only made him like her more. She had always had a sharp tongue and was quick with biting comebacks, but he hadn't realized that made her quick with a joke as well. She was a bit cheeky and mischievous, but never in class, where she had crafted the image of Evans the Prig. It had clearly benefitted her because teachers had afforded her more liberties and let her get away with much more than James ever could. Even Sirius had been enjoying a bit of banter with Lily at recent meal times and had admitted to James that he finally got what James had seen in Lily. But James had never seen this side of Lily and once he had, he realized that he liked the real Lily more than the image of her he had built up in his mind. He had had plenty of runaway fantasies where he had gotten Lily to break the rules with him, but he never considered she had broken plenty of rules without him and was considerably better at not getting caught. Whatever James had felt for Lily before was nothing compared to how he felt now, which was consuming all hours of his day that weren't filled with classwork and meetings with Professor Dearborn.

"Who here has created a corporeal patronus?" asked Professor Dearborn at their latest meeting. Only a few of the seventh years raised their hands.

"Alright, who here has never even attempted to create a patronus?" All of the sixth years raised their hands. "I suppose that is N.E.W.T. level stuff isn't it?" Dearborn continued, "You all know what patronuses are at least?" Everyone in the group nodded quietly. "Great, so Professor Dumbledore has created a brilliant way to communicate using patronuses, but you will need to create a corporeal one first. When you get a full-bodied patronus it will take on the shape of an animal that is most representative of you. Professor McGonagall could easily tell you that most people only get one animal per lifetime, but because the patronus comes from happy memories, ways of the heart can easily sway it." Some of the girls sighed and looked longingly at Dearborn. James had to admit that it was sort of romantic, but maybe he was only thinking that way because Valentine's Day had just passed.

"Hey Evans- er, uh Lily," James spoke tentatively between a few semi-decent attempts at conjuring a patronus. He assumed it was easier to do it in a room full of friends than if he were faced with actual dementors. Lily simply hummed in acknowledgement as she was really concentrating hard on picking just the right memory.

"I was wondering if you'd like to go to Hogsmeade with me as like a date for the next trip. I know we sort of missed Valentine's Day and all but," James trailed off and he could feel a lump forming in his throat at the silence that followed; his wand hand had gone sweaty. Lily had gone from detesting James to willingly partnering up with him in their after class lessons with the Order. He may have a shot, but he may be pushing things too far. He was starting to feel sweat pricking up all over his body while he waited for a response. Lily hadn't been paying attention, she had just produced a massive silver mist, with no real distinct shape and her face was screwed up in concentration.

"Sorry, what was that Potter?" she turned and looked at him and the look of concentration melted in a congenial smile. James took a deep breath and looked into her bright green eyes, Merlin he had always loved her eyes.

"Will you go to Hogsmeade this weekend with me? Like a date?" he repeated feeling a lot less brave now that Lily's full attention was on him. Her smile faltered for a split second, if James had blinked he would have missed it, but it was enough for his heart to sink.

"Oh, er, sure, that could be fun," Lily said, her smile only brightening. He looked at her with surprise, genuine, jaw dropped surprise.

"Really?" James asked excitedly.

"Yeah, I guess you're not _so_ bad, Potter," she responded with a smirk. James would be lying if he said he hadn't waited six years for this moment; it wasn't entirely true as his relationship with Lily had been tumultuous at best in the meantime. He still thought of the first time he laid eyes on her on the Hogwarts Express, she was like a hidden stained glass window in a grimy abandoned church, a patch of flowers in a dismal city. She was just as vibrant now as she was on that day with her fiery red hair, her rosy cheeks, those brilliant eyes, 'the color of a Quidditch pitch' James thought with an internal laugh. And she had agreed to go on a date with him! After all the strife he had caused her, he knew he owed her a hundred wonderful dates, and now he finally had his chance to start.

Chest swelling with happiness James attempted his patronus one more time, "Expecto Patronum!" A giant silver stag burst out of James's wand and he wasn't the least bit surprised because Sirius had managed a corporeal patronus early in their lesson, and just like his animagus form, it had been a bear-sized dog. Still James was pleased to have managed it, and he couldn't help but think that Lily had aided in its formation in some way.

"Expecto Patronum!" Lily shouted a moment later. From Lily's wand poured out a solid mass of silver that raised its head and looked at James with big glowing eyes.

"A doe!" James nearly shouted with genuine surprise. Lily turned to look at James and he was pleased to see that her face was so red it nearly blended in with her hair.


	8. March 1977

"TWO HUNDRED POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR?" Gideon yelled, his eyes bulging as James, Sirius, and Remus joined the other Gryffindors for dinner.

"It was fifty each, it's not bad if you look at it that way," James argued bravely in the wake of the Head Boy's anger.

"Are you out of your minds? This close to the end of the year?" Fabian asked only slightly more calmly.

"Seriously guys, we can't lose again, it's embarrassing enough having my little sister kick our arses in Quidditch, but now Slytherin is back in the lead," Rodger said mournfully. It wasn't often that he was on Gideon and Fabian's sides when it came to the sixth year Gryffindors, but seven years is a long time to not know what it feels like having your colors adorn the Great Hall at the end of the year feast.

"Maybe if you four weren't so keen on getting into trouble we'd have an actual chance of winning the House Cup!" Lily yelled, happily joining the group of people ganging up on the boys.

"Evans, has it ever occurred to you that James and I always win those points back in Quidditch?" Sirius drawled. It was true, Gryffindor's quidditch team had a reputation of heavily outscoring the other teams once Sirius and James had become Chasers. Even with Ravenclaw beating them in the last match they still had enough points racked up to be in the lead for the Quidditch Cup. Apparently there was more motivation to James and Sirius's sportsmanship than Lily could have guessed.

"Well, maybe if you could behave for more than a minute we could be in the lead rather than just breaking even!" Lily said huffily. "And you!" Lily said turning on Remus who was minding his own business with his nose in a book. "You're supposed to be helping me reign them in, but instead you're lighting up Fillibuster's wet-starts in the courtyard in the middle of the night when you told me last week you were finally all out!" Remus looked up with slight fear in his eyes. "Remus, have you been using the secret passages to go to Zonko's? I've kept my mouth shut for a long time-"

"It was Moony and Prongs' seventeenth birthdays! What were we supposed to do have a quiet and respectable evening indoors?" Sirius shouted.

"Lily, do you want me to win the House Cup for you? Is that what all this is about?" James said changing the subject in hopes of shutting Lily up. It was more or less effective because she calmed down slightly and started playing with her food.

"Would be nice to win it just once in seven years, we've only got one more try after this." Lily had fully deflated and finished up dinner quietly before heading off to the library with Alice and Marlene. Everyone else had given up on lecturing the boys and went their separate ways as well. James, Sirius, and Remus had a wide gap on either side of them after their friends had gone because everyone else in the house was furious with them, not that their friends weren't also furious.

"Pad," James said looking rather critical.

"What's wrong Prongs? Evans got you thinking?"

"Are we getting a bit old for the pranks?" James mused. Sirius put a hand to his heart and dropped his jaw, looking terribly offended.

"I think we are," Remus said from behind his book, clearly bored.

"You two can't be serious!"

"No," James said gravely, "we can't be. You're doing such a fine job on your own." James narrowly missed a fork to the face and was grateful that Sirius hadn't chosen a knife. It had been a long time since he had walked himself into a serious-Sirius joke.

"Look at us! We're all of age, Remus is a Prefect, Peter's off gods know where-"

"Reckon he's gotten sick of your ugly mug, Prongs." This time it was Sirius's turn to duck out of the way of a flying spoon aimed right between his eyes.

"Honest, we're only the Marauder's once a month!" James said, desperately trying to make his point.

"Actually I've been meaning to say something about that," Remus spoke up again, though a lot more nervously than before. "You know I love you guys, and our little _excursions_ each month really help me, really they do, but it is very reckless what we've been doing. What if one of us gets hurt, what if someone gets bit- or you know-"

"Worse?" James finished for Remus.

"Padfoot, you're already on thin ice with Dumbledore after what happened last year," Remus said more quietly and Sirius grumbled something involving certain people keeping their big noses out of things that didn't involve them. "I really can't let down Dumbledore, not after everything he's done for me. No other Headmaster would let a you-know-what come to Hogwarts. I owe him more than the recklessness we've been up to."

"I'm not saying hang it all up!" James continued at the sight of Sirius's downtrodden face. "We can still have parties in the Common Room after we win the Quidditch Cup and maybe even the House Cup?" James said suggestively, knowing that Sirius always did well when he had something to focus on.

"I guess it's like Professor Dearborn said about having tough things to face when we're done here," Sirius said soberly. Remus and James could tell he was slowly giving in before his face brightened, "and we're easily the smartest blokes in school-"

"Easily!" James interjected.

"Maybe that could be the biggest prank of all," Sirius said with a wicked grin on his face.

"What?" asked James and Remus together.

"Showing those sick son-of-Slytherins what we're made of."

* * *

"I feel pretty terrible about yelling at James at dinner last week," Lily sighed.

"Well that's new," Alice said raising her eyebrows, "Lils are you sure you don't still have the flu?" Lily's face reddened at Alice's suggestion. All of Madame Pomfrey's potions couldn't get Lily better in time for her date with James at the end of February and she hadn't found the chance to make it up to him yet. James had gone to Hogsmeade anyway and picked her up a care package from Honey Dukes and sweet talked Madame Rosmerta into charming some butter beers to stay warm for her. He really was rather thoughtful, when he wasn't thinking about himself.

"Oh, I wouldn't say it's _that_ new," Marlene piped up in a knowing tone. Lily had been getting help in Astronomy from James for months now and had spent most of their late night lessons with Professor Dearborn together. Alice, who had gotten a new boyfriend from Hufflepuff, hadn't been around enough to notice.

"He's really quite alright," Lily insisted, feeling the need to justify herself, "He's certainly smarter than I ever gave him credit for and I think he's finally starting to apply himself."

"I like James," Marlene stated simply. Lily wanted to roll her eyes out of habit, but stopped herself, as she too was starting to see the Gryffindor boys in a new light. Their magical prowess was a bit misguided, but at their core she knew they were good.

"He's getting better," Lily conceded. She continued on to tell Marlene and Alice about the date she had missed and James's visit in the hospital wing.

"I really need to come up with a way to make it up to him," Lily said with determination.

"Ooo something really romantic!" Alice said excitedly, the wheels in her head clearly turning.

"I say you appeal to his interests," Marlene said knowledgeably. Lily crinkled her nose and Marlene cut in as if she had read Lily's mind, "Not like Quidditch, Lil. I'm saying appeal to his bad boy nature."

"Ew, Marlene, don't say 'bad boy nature' ever again," Alice laughed.

"What I mean is you should take a little risk for him. He'd really appreciate it. Maybe go out after curfew, I know a great place you can go," Marlene continued, paying Alice no mind.

"A nice broom closet?" Alice interjected again, waggling her eyebrows.

"Stop it! I was going to say you could show him how to get into the kitchens. Dave showed me last year," Marlene said curtly and Alice stopped laughing to herself. Marlene knew talk like that always made Lily uncomfortable. Lily wasn't exactly inexperienced, she had spent some time holding hands with Amos Diggory in the halls back in third year, but he had been a little pushy when it came to anything more and Lily had promptly broken up with him. In the past two years there had been rumors going around that James would give a hard time to anyone who showed any interest in Lily, but she had never believed it. She had spent the first four and a half years with her head leaned in towards Severus or a book, she never really noticed if anyone else was paying extra attention to her, least of all James.

Lily marveled at how different sixth year was from fifth. Right around this time last year, her and Severus had been spending countless hours in the library and in Slughorn's classroom trying to figure out the most effective way to squeeze, cut, and crush ingredients. They were always pouring over bits of parchment crammed with personal notes on making the potions in their textbooks more efficiently. Lily remembered how much they used to laugh when they imagined publishing books with all their helpful hints and becoming rich and famous. She knew Severus was keeping up with the annotations because he was always scribbling in the margins of his Advanced Potion Making book in class. Slughorn had been so disappointed when Lily stopped spending a couple days a week in his otherwise empty classroom, perfecting potions and practicing trickier health potions that she would need to know to become a Healer. Slughorn had mentioned on more than one occasion that he was absolutely crestfallen that his two star pupils were no longer collaborating, or even speaking. It was always unbearably awkward when he did that.

Potions was still very important to Lily because she needed potions for her career, but lately Severus seemed to be focusing a lot more on Defense Against the Dark Arts, or perhaps just the Dark Arts parts. He had always been very aware of jinxes and curses, more than any young boy deserved to be. When Lily was having issues with her snarling sister, she didn't mind that Severus almost never wanted to be home with his father. She often wondered what he did when he wasn't at Hogwarts now. Did he fight back? Did he even go home anymore? Severus made very little effort to speak to Lily after the incident at the end of last year; he hadn't put up much of a fight. She didn't need to worry about Severus, though, he could take care of himself. If he wanted to spend all of his time with future- oh what had Dumbledore called them?- Death Eaters, or become one himself, it really was't Lily's problem anymore. Though, the fear of exactly that happening still pulled a little at the back of her mind.

* * *

James had been working so hard to get Lily's attention and to impress her. He was speaking up and volunteering in class and him and Sirius both had been on a rampage to earn back every point they had lost that year. There was something thrilling about seeing the results of his efforts in class and seeing his teachers take notice. Sirius had always known he was a gifted wizard, hell he had become a full-fledged animagus by the time he was sixteen, when hardly any wizards in the world even bothered to try. It was honestly very rewarding to be recognized for his skill and he was starting to see the benefits of keeping his mouth shut and getting his work done. The most recent full moon transformation had been their easiest so far, even Peter was showing improvement in Transfiguration, not that McGonagall would ever notice, she was always so hard on Peter.

"I'm impressed Mr. Black," McGonagall said one day when he fell behind the others leaving class, "Lessons with Professor Dearborn seem to have finally gotten you in the right mind set." There was the faintest hint of a smile across her thin lips and he could tell that was a compliment, there was however one thing-

"You know about that?" Sirius said completely surprised.

"Of course, Mr. Black. I was the one that recommended you and Mr. Potter to Professor Dumbledore. You know, when you two aren't messing around you are both very strong transfigurists."

"You mean it?" Sirius said unintentionally letting his excitement seep out like a child being told they were the favorite. James and him loved to try to make McGonagall laugh, or do something slightly human, but she was without a doubt the most steadfast woman he had ever come across. Sirius's mother was hard to please in a way that indicated nothing would ever satistfy her, whereas McGonagall's approval was fairly distributed and well-earned.

"Yes, but don't tell Mr. Potter. I don't think his ego could handle it," McGonagall said with an actual smile breaking briefly across her face. It looked out of place, but Sirius appreciated it none the less.

"My, my, Minnie, you oughta smile more often," Sirius said with a wink. McGonagall's smile was instantly replaced with a tight frown.

"Don't push it, Mr. Black." Sirius gracefully bowed out of the classroom, but simply could not stop beaming as he headed down the corridor and back to the seventh floor to drop off his books in the common room. He was waiting on a landing for a staircase to swing his way when Marlene climbed up the stairs behind him.

"Hey," she huffed, clearly out of breath as she reached the landing. He knew she had Advanced Potions with Slughorn in the dungeons and they were already at the sixth floor, that's a lot of stairs.

"Hey!" Sirius said, his grin only growing bigger. "Haven't seen you in a while," he said brightly, Merlin, he could carry the image of McGonagall smiling at him like a trophy for the rest of his life. Marlene looked at Sirius oddly before saying, "I saw you last night at the Order of Phoenix, remember? We practiced fighting off the Imperious curse, kind of hard to forget." Marlene shuddered briefly and followed Sirius when their staircase finally arrived.

"Oh, right," Sirius said distractedly.

"I had breakfast with all of you the other morning too," she said a little defensively.

"Ah, Marlene I'm sorry. James and I have been really focused on our marks lately, as well as other things…"

"Yeah, Lily told me about her and James, sort of a thing now, aren't they?"

"Yeah," said Sirius thinking happily about his best friend. His mind wandered to his other friends; Peter was getting better at practical magic and Sirius had had the good fortune of being paired up with Remus for nearly every Order of Phoenix meeting.

"Sirius?" Sirius looked round at Marlene, she had been talking and he hadn't been listening.

"What?" he said unintelligently.

"I was saying that I'm that way," Marlene said hooking her thumb back in the direction of Ravenclaw tower. Sirius would have to go to the complete opposite end of the floor to get to Gryffindor.

"I suppose this is where we part," Sirius said smiling fondly at Marlene.

"Yeah, hey, it's been a while since we've had a good chat and you seem to be really happy about something," Marlene sort of trailed off as Sirius seemed to be spacing out again. But he was perfectly present because he said, "The weather's been real nice lately, wanna stroll around the grounds on Saturday? You can talk your pants off-" Sirius stopped at the sour look that had crossed Marlene's face "-or keep your pants on. I'll keep mine on as well." They both laughed and Marlene agreed to meeting him outside the Great Hall before they went to their respective houses.

* * *

Sirius met Marlene on the steps out to the grounds and she was happy to see him alone. They hadn't had much time alone since the beginning of the year.

"Good morning!" Sirius said to Marlene when he spotted her at the foot of the steps. He was still contagiously cheery and the weather was absolutely perfect, dry, breezy, and a little warm. They took off towards the greenhouses and walked along the Forbidden Forest, passing Hagrid's Hut.

"Alright, Hagrid?" Sirius called as they passed the Gamekeeper. Hagrid had been bent down in his pumpkin patch and he stood and waved his arm enthusiastically. Marlene waved back hesitantly as the hand Hagrid had chosen to wave was holding a massive dead rat.

"Want ter see somethin' special, Sirius?" Hagrid called, his black eyes twinkling over his great big beard, which was probably hiding a grin. Sirius looked at Marlene and she shrugged, so he led the way over to Hagrid's pumpkin patch.

"Hagrid, this is my friend, Marlene! She's in the Order of You-know-what," Sirius said with a wink. "Marlene you know Hagrid?"

"Don't believe we've met properly," Hagrid said switching the rat into his left hand and offering his right for Marlene to shake. She knew it would be rude to refuse a hand shake and she could always wash her hand later, but she definitely took a moment before taking Hagrid's hand. Hagrid shook her entire arm enthusiastically.

"Come with me! Though, maybe I should wait ter show yeh when you've got James with yeh," Hagrid said looking to Sirius almost guiltily.

"Well, let's see what it is and James can come down and see it himself if he wants. He's a big boy," Sirius said the last bit forcing a straight face. Hagrid clapped his hands together excitedly and gestured to Marlene and Sirius to follow him into the forest.

"Are we going into the forest?" asked Marlene nervously.

"Yeah, but it's fine as long as we're with Hagrid," said Sirius happily. "Me and James have served plenty of detentions in the forest with Hagrid, most of them were at night, too."

"Not to worry. We won't be goin' in too far," Hagrid assured Marlene. Sure enough they had reached the surprise Hagrid intended to show them within a few more paces. There, tethered to a tree, was a bright white unicorn.

"Oh my," Marlene said, raising her hands to her mouth.

"Ollivander, yeh know the wand maker, he wrote Dumbledore, said he needs more unicorn hairs for wands." The unicorn's hair was so purely white that its black eyes looked like voids when it turned its head to look at Marlene.

"Now they don't take to boys, sorry Sirius, but Marlene you can pet 'im." Marlene looked at Sirius with wide eyes as if asking permission.

"Go on then, not everyday you get to pet a unicorn," Sirius said grinning he looked at Hagrid and Marlene was sure she saw them wink at each other. She narrowed her eyes and intended to ask if she had been setup, but the unicorn whinnied behind her and she didn't care much if Sirius had planned this or not. She stroked the unicorn's soft coat and patted his nose as it looked at Marlene with its fathomless eyes.

"That was really romantic, Sirius," Marlene said still awestruck after they said their goodbyes to Hagrid and continued their walk along the lake.

"Yeah, shame I wasted it on you," Sirius said with a cheeky grin. She suppressed the urge to hit him and chose to just laugh instead.

"So who would you have rather show the unicorn to?" Marlene asked. There was a long pause before Sirius responded.

"I think- you know the answer to that already, don't you?" Sirius said, his tone dropped a bit, but he still sounded friendly.

"I think, that maybe I'm not the only one who fell for Remus," Marlene said slowly. She turned to look at Sirius who was being very quiet. His face was bright pink and Marlene was certain she had never seen him flustered before. He neither confirmed, nor denied what Marlene had said, but he did give Marlene a meaningful glance. They walked fully around the lake in silence, but Sirius made no moves toward the castle, so they started another lap.

"You're the only one who knows," Sirius finally spoke as they reached the far side of the lake for the second time.

"You don't think any of the other boys suspect anything?"

"I don't know, maybe. Peter makes jokes, but I don't think he'd actually expect to be right and James and I have been fighting about… girls lately. And Remus, I don't think he's capable of thinking anyone could like him."

"Why not?" Marlene asked, clearly confused. Remus was quite popular and easy to get along with, he was by far the kindest and most accepting of the boys in their group.

"He's, well- he's," Sirius treaded lightly when talking about Remus, it was hard to explain the way he was without giving away what he was. "He's very self-conscious, sometimes, even after all these years, he's still surprised we're friends with him."

"Do you think he could like you back?" Marlene pressed. And what a question to ask. Sirius was silent again for a long moment, and Marlene watched him clearly going over instances in his mind. His final conclusion left him looking rather crestfallen.

"I don't know." There wasn't much more Marlene could get out of Sirius without potentially killing the good mood he had seemed to be in all week. They turned the conversation to Dave and how he was doing outside the Order. Marlene really wished he had stayed, but was proud of his honesty and for knowing himself well enough to decline the offer. Dave really was off to do great things, he was full to the brim with ideas on how to alleviate stress between the magical races, and ways to improve creature rights. There was a bright light that would ignite behind his eyes every time he got the chance to discuss the thing he was most passionate about. Marlene rambled on and on about Dave, which was more than Sirius had expected. He looked at her with a knowing smile, and she was never one to miss something like that.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Marlene asked, narrowing her eyes.

"How do you feel about Dave?"

"Well, he's wonderful. Weren't you listening to anything I just said?" Marlene answered suspiciously.

"Yeah, is that all?" Sirius goaded.

"He's been Rodger's best friend since their first year, he's like a brother to me," she defended herself, realizing what Sirius was implying. "It's not like that! Sirius, don't you smirk at me- it's not!."

"Marlene, please I think my secret's a little heavier than yours," Sirius said shaking his head, unable to shake off that stupid grin.

"There's no secret, Sirius, I don't like Dave." Despite what Marlene was saying out loud, the thoughts racing through her head were completely new. Did she like Dave? Where had that come from? Had it always been there? How could Sirius have realized before she had? It didn't matter anyway because Dave just saw Marlene as a little sister.

"I, er, have to talk to Alice," Marlene said realizing her face was starting to flush.

"Yeah, she'll know what to do," Sirius said laughing. This time Marlene didn't suppress the urge, and punched Sirius in the arm. She glared at him as he was still laughing, but he threw his arm around her shoulder and guided her back towards the castle.

"I think we should promise to keep the contents of this morning's walk between us," Sirius said offering a hand for Marlene to shake. She took it and shook, but now that it was confirmed, Marlene thought Lily might like to help her get Sirius and Remus together.


End file.
